In Belgian Congo, circa 1900, a group of prisoners kept by locals for Belgian colonizers who ran the country. Offences were mainly theft and the like. Congo was colonized by Belgium from 1876 to 1945, gold and copper were extracted.
28th January 1960, President of the Congolese National Movement Patrice Lamumba arriving in Brussels
(Original Caption) 7/5/1960-Leopoldville, Congo-Young Congolese children carry new flag of Republic of Congo around arena of Baudouin Stadium here July 1st, the day the Congo formally received its independence from Belgium.
Vote in Belgian Congo in 1960 - Elections controlled by Belgians before independence granted in May 1960 under the name Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Leopoldville).
King Baudouin of Belgium (1940 - 1993), speaking at the Congo Independence celebrations in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), 30th June 1960. On the far right is President of the new republic, Joseph Kasa-Vubu (c 1910 - 1969). Formerly known as the Belgian Congo, the country was renamed the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville), then Zaire, and is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Independence of Congo from 1960 to 1962 - Years of struggle for the independence of Belgian Congo. Katangese children asking the new governement of Congo independence. They were supported by Belgium and South Africa and led by Moise TSHOMBE.
Soldiers of the new Democratic Republic of Congo arrest a demonstrator, 05 July 1960 at Ngiri-Ngiri in the outskirts of Leopoldville. New riots have broken out in the country where 10 people dead and 17 wounded among civilians and security forces.
Picture released in December 18, 1960 in Stanleyville (now Kisangani) of Congolese holding a banner claiming independence in Congo and supporting leader Lumumba, as King Baudouin of Belgium visits the former colony Belgian Congo (Congo Belge), now called Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Belgian Congo became independent on 30 June 1960.
Leopold II (1835 - 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and, through his own efforts, the King-Sovereign of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.
Toronto protest of slaying in Congo of ex-premier Lumumba and his associates is made by Clayton Derstine and Joyce Carter outside Adelaide St. office of Belgian consul. Signs blame Belgian copper interests for killings.
Commandos from the Zaire Armed Forces on a street during fighting between FLNC rebels and French and Belgian paratroopers in the city of Kolwezi in Zaire (later known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in May 1978. Members of the Congolese National Liberation Front (FLNC) have been fighting incoming airborne troops from France, Belgium, Morocco and Zaire for possession of the city in a conflict known as the Battle of Kolwezi.
President Mobutu of Zaire visits the US Defence secretary Caspar Weinberger 1983.
1997: Desperately hungry and suffering from disease and malaria these Hutu refugees encountered on the jungle track from Kisangani to Ubundu waited for help to arrive from Doctors Without Borders though many thousands perished on the voyage. An estimated 80,000 Rwandan Hutu tribe refugees fled Rwanda for fear of reprisals for the atrocities their tribe had inflicted upon the Tutsi tribe and surfaced in the Congo (formerly Zaire) left to fend for themselves in the most inhospitable jungle that lies directly on the equator.
