Photography as a Pivotal Tool for Early Human Rights Movements

By: Kaavya Mohan

Abstract

Modern humanitarianism often references the need to alleviate the suffering of fellow human beings. Historian Lynne Hunt argues that this empathy serves as a psychological identification mechanism that furtherx human rights since “equality of rights is unimaginable without a strong sense that others are like you in body and spirit”. She coins this as the development of an “imagined empathy”. This essay will demonstrate how the use of photography further broadened local human rights movements by appealing to the visual empathy of citizens internationally. By historically tracking the implications of photographs in the case study of King Leopold II of Belgium’s reign of terror in the Congo during the late 1800s up until the early 20th century, it will be argued that they not only served as tools in eliminating the alienation to atrocities oversees, but also served as a driving force for development of “imagined empathy” and the subsequent humanization of international suffering. As exemplified in the case of the Congo Free State, the moral dimension of human rights was allowed to evolve and marked one of the first intergovernmental collaborations between western countries against “crimes against humanity”.

Moralement, l’humanitarisme moderne fait souvent référence à la nécessité de soulager les corps souffrants d’un autre être humain, comme l’a souligné Lynn Hunt. Hunt a fait valoir que cette empathie sert de mécanisme d’identification psychologique pour faire avancer les droits de l’homme puisque « l’égalité des droits est inimaginable sans un fort sentiment que les autres sont comme vous dans le corps et l’esprit », ce qu’elle appelle le développement d’une « empathie imaginée ». Cet essai démontrera comment l’utilisation de la photographie a contribué à amplifier les mouvements locaux des droits de l’homme en faisant appel à l’empathie visuelle des citoyens à l’échelle internationale. En suivant historiquement les implications des photographies dans l’étude de cas du règne de terreur du roi Léopold II de Belgique au Congo à la fin des années 1800 jusqu’au début du 20e siècle, il sera soutenu qu’elles ont non seulement servi d’outils pour éliminer l’aliénation à atrocités, mais ont également servi de force motrice à « l’empathie imaginaire » et à l’humanisation subséquente de la souffrance internationale. Comme l’illustre le cas historique marquant de l’État indépendant du Congo, la dimension morale des droits de l’homme a pu évoluer et a marqué l’une des premières collaborations intergouvernementales entre pays occidentaux contre les « crimes contre l’humanité ».

Introduction

The development of photography, the inception of the printing press, and rising literacy rates in western populations collectively advanced early human rights movements by appealing to the empathy of individuals internationally. The emergence of photography built a visual narrative to atrocities worlds away or, at the very least, a world that was inaccessible to western populations. This created the psychological foundation for global human rights and “imagined empathy”. 1 While many methods have been used to produce visual imagery in early humanitarian discourse, 2 this essay will specifically focus on the role of photographs in human rights discourse during King Leopold II of Belgium’s reign in the Congo from the late 19th century up until the early 20th century.. . .

1. Imagined Empathy and the Morality of Human Rights

When defining human rights in the historical context, it is necessary to consider the moral dimension of nature. As highlighted by Lynn Hunt, modern humanitarianism often references a need to alleviate the suffering bodies of a fellow human being. 3 However, the alleviation of human suffering must first begin with the recognition of the shared humanity with “the other”. 4 Hunt argues that empathy in this context serves as a psychological identification mechanism to further human rights since “equality of rights is unimaginable without a strong sense that others are like you in body and spirit”, something she coins as the development of an “imagined empathy”. 5 Thus, human rights must therefore be simultaneously universal and local. Stern and Straus argue in support of Hunt’s imagined empathy, stating that human rights are locally and specifically mediated despite including everyone in the global marketplace of humanitarian ideas. 6 This relationship between a local population and the universality of humanity can oblige any specific local context to stand as incredibly important in imagined empathy, thus bringing about meaningful action. Stern explains that: “human rights acquire power precisely from internationally supported assertions of a transcendent claim [of humanity] — transhistorical, transnational, and universal. Certain fundamental rights are innately endowed upon people, by virtue of their humanity, regardless of particular circumstances.” 7 Here, the norm of universality as it pertains to human rights is clearly tied to the moral foundation and recognition of human rights through imagined empathy.

2. Imagined Empathy and the Legality of Human Rights

Hunt expands on the manners in which Enlightenment thinkers advanced ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, as stated in the 1776 American Declaration of Independence. 8 Such self-evident rights of man were echoed in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789. 9 Human rights discourse or the rights of man, did not yet carry the crucial element of universality, as elites of society controlled power and information. The capacity to intellectualize the human experience was thus still very much a privilege that remained reserved to a restricted class of citizens—notably Anglo-Saxon, landowning, and male citizens. The limits of empathy during the Enlightenment must therefore be historically situated in the context of British imperialism and the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Although the development of a legal tradition of rights and social contract theory may have helped shape the concept of human rights, Hunt argues that revolutions underpin the evolution of property rights into human rights. Hunt references the political shocks of the American and French Revolutions of 1776 and 1789 respectively, stating that: “rights had to shed their historical garments to become human rights – rights potentially applicable to everyone”, alluding to the universality of human rights. 10 Therefore, human rights discourse was allowed to emerge during the social and political unrest of revolutions. At these times, authorities were most urgently compelled to respond to the will of the people, otherwise known as the “Rule of Law”. 11 During these revolutions structures of power distribution and social class were attacked and transformed, allowing for the ideal of a shared, universal humanity and other moral concerns to be heard. 12 The production of these broader forms of empathy drove the humanization of the “other” and created a moral foundation for the recognition of human rights. Thus, I argue that the growth of photography and the free press bridged the physical and cultural differences among global citizens and served as an integral prerequisite for the establishment of universal human rights.

3. King Leopold II and the Belgian Congo

‘Crimes against humanity’, was first conceived to describe the widespread massacre of Congolese individuals under King Leopold II’s rule in the Congo. 13 Although not the first colonial atrocity of this period, this case is unique in our discussion on the historical development of global human rights due to its success in creating a moral empathic narrative on the ideal of human rights. This case also furthered the need for a universal framework on crimes against humanity, as opposed to previous discourse treating such events as local or war crimes.

Ironically enough, King Leopold of Belgium’s aim for the Congo was widely acclaimed as an early humanitarian project for bringing civility to the people of the Congo. 14 The European actors in the Berlin Conference of 1885 saw no objections to his supposedly noble objectives and legally signed off the Free State of the Congo—and the protection of all those in the land—to King Leopold. However, by 1888, Leopold had established an armed infantry of soldiers named the Force Publique meant to terrorize locals into harvesting rubber. By 1891, the law allowed the Force Publique to take hostages and imprison the chiefs of villages who failed to meet their quota. 15 The colonial military force regularly misused their power, using severe brutality and lethal force to fill the rubber quotas. Belgian officials under Leopold’s rule demanded the right hand of the victim to serve as proof that the expensive munitions given to soldiers were used for the purpose of repression, and not for personal endeavours such as hunting. 4 Therefore, a cruel economy arose where missed quotas were paid off with human hands and feet, including those of children.

The first public outcry to the devastation occurring in the Congo came from American George Washington Williams’ visit to the Congo, during which he witnessed grave atrocities committed by Belgian officers. In a public letter to King Leopold published in the New York Herald in 1890, Williams describes in vivid detail a scene where he saw women and children “laughing and talking” only to be shot “and wounded and groaning and pleading for mercy”. 16 Using graphic vocabulary to enliven a recantation of his experiences, Williams attempts to cultivate a sense of empathetic humanity amongst the reader by, for instance, describing the sounds the victims were making.

The timing of Williams’ open letter in combination with rising local pressure in Britain led to a parliamentary debate in the British House of Commons that resulted in Roger Casement’s assignment as a British Consul to report on the situation in the Congo. 4 This exemplifies the growing global era and a moral marketplace for human rights where an American report results in a British intervention for a Belgian atrocity in Africa. In 1903, Casement pub lished a detailed report including personal testimonials of victims w- ith names and se veral photographs s- howing the mutilation of the individuals. 17 The report’s use of photos served as irrefutable proof of the a- trocities committed by Belgian officials. While these photographs served as key evidence in the case, it also served as an empathic and moral global call for action. In 1904, the Congo Reform Association was created amidst the fallout from Casement’s report. Headed by Edmund Dean Morel, the association began monthly publications of these “atrocity photographs”, which Morel also published in his own books. In Red Rubber, Morel echoes modern rights language, as codified by the Universal Declaration, 18 when speaking to the deprivation of the Congolese people’s right to “land, property and labour”. 19 Meanwhile, Magic Lantern shows with slides and a script of these photographs, travelled and gained popularity across borders. This was due to the power that the graphic photographs held in advocating for a sense of shared humanity. All of these efforts brought forth international outrage on the suffering in the Congo.

The recognition of a universal human right was only found when confronted with its loss, and the devastating photographs lead to an “imagined empathy”. 20 Susan Santong speaks of this loss, stating that visual aids bring forth an ever-mounting feeling of reality when confronted with the body of another human being, thus transcending the imagination. 21 The photographs in the Free Congo’s campaign had this exact effect on the global community. Such a horrific reality of human suffering was brought to the very doorsteps of a global population and their respective representative governments. The mounting international pressure directly brought on by these photographic campaigns caused King Leopold to eventually turn the territory over to Belgium in 1908.

This notion of human rights as both universal and local has been made relevant throughout this contemporary period through the use of photographs, the free printing press, and new technologies such as the Magic Lantern shows. This is most effectively demonstrated in the case of the Congo Free State activism, which was integral to not only the development and demonstration of the moralizing aspects of human rights, but also to the legal aspects as well, setting an intergovernmental precedent on how to handle crimes against humanity far before the creation of the League of Nations or United Nations. The multi-level engagement of international non-governmental missionaries with Magic Lantern shows and private citizen activists stood as a break from the strictly inter-governmental involvement on such global issues that had preceded it. For instance, Morel’s “The Black Man’s Burden” 22 echoes the critical tone of the French revolutionaries against imperialist ‘civilizing missions’ and focuses on the human dignity of the individual and collective experiences of oppression. The Congo case’s appeal to a shared humanity in need of moral defense enables citizens to demand that their government engage and protect human rights. Accompanying his final photograph, Morel writes at the end of Red Rubber, “no grandmotherly legislation, so sentimental claims are being urged in their interest. Only justice”. 23 This personal demand for justice showcases a break from earlier historical developments of private rights, exemplifying the universality of self-evident, human rights.

Conclusion

Both the universality and the simultaneously local and global nature of human rights was significantly furthered with the technological development of photography and the printing press. Human Rights not only served as a tool for eliminating mass oversight of atrocities overseas but also served as a driving force for the imagined empathy and subsequent humanization of international suffering. As exemplified in the case study of the Congo Free State under King Leopold, the moral dimension of human rights grew—and eventually produced tangible results—through grassroots activism and intergovernmental collaboration between Western countries that leaned heavily on print and photo.

Endnotes

1. Lynn Hunt, “The paradoxical origins of human rights”. (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000), 10. 2. Elizabeth Edwards, “Anthropology and Photography: 1960-1920”. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992). 3. Thoman W Laquer, “Bodies, details and the humanitarian narrative”, in Lynn Hunt, The New Cultural History, (1989). 176-204.

4. Adam, Smith, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, [1759] 1984), 14. 5. Hunt, “The paradoxical origins of human rights”, 10. 6. Steve J Stern., and Scott Straus, eds. The human rights paradox: Universality and its discontents. (University of Wisconsin Pres, 2014). 7. Stern and Straus, “The human rights paradox: Universality and its discontents, ” 10. 8. Mercer, John Frances, Jane Doe, George Washington, John Jay, Roger Sherman, and Samuel Adams. “Declaration of Independence.” (1922). 9. James Harvey Robinson, “The French Declaration of the Rights of Man, of 1789.” Political Science Quarterly 14, no. 4 (1899): 653-662. 10. Hunt, “The paradoxical origins of human rights”, 5. 11. Brian Z, Tamanaha. On the rule of law: History, politics, theory. Cambridge University Press, 2004. 12. Hunt “The paradoxical origins of human rights” 13. Sharon Sliwinski, “The Childhood of Human Rights: The Kodak on the Congo.” The Journal of Visual Culture 5 (2006): 335-336. 14. H. M. Stanley, The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State: A Story of Work and Exploration. (London: 1885). 224. 15. George Martelli, “The New Policy”. In Leopold to Lumumba: A History of the Belgian Congo 1877- 1960. (London: Chapman & Hall, 1962). 138-149. 16. George Washington Williams, “Open letter to King Leopold II of Belgium”, (New York: The New York Herald, 1890). 17. Roger Casement, “The Eyes of Another Race: Roger Casement’s Congo Report and 1903 Diary”, (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2003 [1903]. 18. UN General Assembly, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” 217 (III) A (Paris, 1948). 19. E.D Morel, Red rubber: The story of the rubber slave trade flourishing on the Congo in the year of grace 1907 (London: Riley Brothers LTD, 1906), 21. 20. Hunt “The paradoxical origins of human rights”. 21. Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others. (New York, Picador Reading Group, 1993). 25 22. Morel, E. D. 1920. The black man’s burden. Manchester: The National Labour Press, Ltd. 23. Morel, E.D. Red Rubber: The story of the rubber slave trade flourishing on the Congo in the year of grace 1907. London: Riley Brothers LTD, 1906. 212