Is this the worst suffering the Congo has ever seen?

Possibly not. From 1885-1908 the country was acquired by King Leopold II of Belgium, who looted its resources and enslaved its people. During this period, half the population (around 10 million people) were wiped out as a direct result of colonial exploitation. The unnamed African country in Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness (serialised 1899; first published 1902) is generally thought to be the Congo of this period.

‘It is the only war I have ever known where the worse things get, the more they are ignored.’

MARTIN BELL, British UNICEF Ambassador