An auction house in Belgium was forced to cancel the sale of three skulls of Africans killed during the colonial period in what is now modern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The skulls – belonging to people killed between January 1893 and May 1894 – were put up for sale by Vanderkindere auction house in Brussels.
It has sparked anger in the country and on social media with human rights organisations calling it “dehumanising and racist”.
The rights group called Collectif Mémoire Coloniale et Lutte contre les Discriminations (CMCLD) has called for a rally in Brussels to denounce the sale, and for the human skulls to be seized by the authorities and “conserved in an appropriate way and with dignity”.
The auction house has now cancelled the sale and apologised.
“We do not in any way condone the suffering and humiliation suffered by the peoples who were victims of these colonial acts,” Vanderkindere said.
The auction house added: “Once again, we express our deepest regrets to anyone who has been hurt and injured by the sale of this lot.”
Human rights groups warned that such a sale could have taken place because there is no law in the country against it.