Belgian Supreme Court confirms landmark ruling in case of mixed-race children abducted during Belgian colonial rule in Congo

Brussels, 2 June 2026

 

The Belgian Supreme Court has upheld the landmark judgment recognising the responsibility of the Belgian State for the systematic abduction and segregation of mixed-race children during the colonial period in the former Belgian Congo.

 

The proceedings were brought by five women who, as young children, were forcibly separated from their African mothers and placed in religious institutions under colonial policies targeting métis children. Their case has become one of the most significant colonial accountability cases in Europe.

 

In 2021, the women suffered an initial defeat before the court of first instance, which ruled that the facts did not constitute an international crime at the time they were committed. The case was then brought before the Brussels Court of Appeal by the women’s attorneys Nicolas Angelet and Michèle Hirsch.

 

In 2024, the Court of Appeal found that the Belgian State had committed crimes against humanity through the forced removals and segregation policy imposed on mixed-race children during the colonial era.

 

The Belgian State subsequently appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court. By rejecting the appeal on 22 May of this year, Belgium’s highest court has now confirmed the historic judgment, bringing a years-long legal battle to a close and establishing an important precedent in Europe regarding colonial-era human rights violations and State responsibility.

 

“This judgment is a European premiere. For the first time, a supreme court in Europe has definitively confirmed the responsibility of a State for systematic colonial practices amounting to crimes against humanity committed against mixed-race children. It sends an important signal that colonial-era violations can still be subject to judicial scrutiny and accountability. Above all, the judgment finally brings the years-long struggle of our clients to an end.”

 

The case has attracted international attention, including prior reporting by The Guardian on the earlier appellate ruling concerning the abduction and forced separation of mixed-race children under Belgian colonial rule.