"Genocide and plunder have been Western policy towards the mineral-rich Congo since the Berlin Conference of 1885 whenChristian, European nations divided Africa between them,
and King Leopold II of Belgium got the Congo as his personal property. Ten million Congolese were killed under Belgian rule which lasted until 1960. The Congo's population was cut in half. Belgian domination was marked by slavery, forced labour and torture aimed at extracting the maximum amount of ivory and rubber from the Central African country. The people of the Congo "probably suffered more than any other colonized group." Their hands were cut off for not working hard enough and on one day 1,000 severed hands were delivered in baskets to an official. Women were kidnapped to force their husbands to collect rubber sap and Congolese were shot for sport. Such atrocities were documented by George Washington Williams, an African-American visiting the Congo, who invented the term "crimes against humanity" to describe them. "
the Berlin Conference of 1885 when Christian, European nations divided Africa between them,
