About:
The Parliamentary Commission on Colonial Past was established by the Belgian federal government in July 2020 to investigate Belgium’s colonial history, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. The commission shall investigate the role of ‘the Belgian State, the Belgian authorities and non-state actors Provenances of the collections – musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in colonial activities.
The commission implemented significant restitution measures, including the Bill of 3 July 2022 to recognise the alienability of goods linked to the Belgian State’s colonial past and to determine a legal framework for their restitution and return, making Belgium the first country with comprehensive parliamentary legislation for colonial collection restitution.
However, limitations include the Commission on the Belgian Colonial Past did not have investigative powers to access closed archival documents and an official apology to the victims of colonialism had not been approved.
