(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 31.​ Apologizing for the colonial past should not be limited to a mere expression of regret but should also become part of systemic change, Abbas Ismail from the International Research Center of ISCTE University, Germany, said at an international conference titled "Belgian colonialism: acknowledgement and responsibility" organized by the Baku Initiative Group, dedicated to Belgium's colonial past and its current serious consequences, Trend reports.

According to him, it's crucial to not rest on laurels but to roll up our sleeves and push for structural changes and genuine accountability.

"Both apologies and compensation are very important issues. The goal here is to atone for the sins committed by the people of Congo, Rwanda, and other countries where Belgian colonialism prevailed," Ismail emphasized.

The Belgian colonial enterprise in Africa spanned from 1885 to 1960, incorporating the Congo Free State (1885–1908) and the Belgian Congo (1908–1960), aggregating to a duration of 75 years, alongside the administrative oversight of Ruanda-Urundi from 1922 to 1962.

Scholarly estimates indicate that within the framework of Belgian colonial hegemony, the mortality figures range from 8 to 20 million individuals. The preponderance of these fatalities transpired amidst the oppressive autocratic governance of King Leopold II during the Congo Free State era (1885–1908), with a supplementary, albeit lesser, cohort of mortalities manifesting post-transition to the Belgian Congo (1908–1960).

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