Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza is a Congolese

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

political activist. He is best known for his support of cultural restitution and the removal of African artefacts from European museums obtained during

colonisation Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

Personal life

Diyabanza was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, but fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as a political

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

. , he is 41 years old. He divides his time between

and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. Diyabanza says his family were royalty on his mother's side, dating back to the 15th century, and that his grandfather, governor of Mpangu province in the

Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...

, was in charge in absence of the king. He says that during the tenure of his grandfather, Europeans arrived and stole artefacts, including a hat made from multiple animal skins, an intricate cane, a copper bracelet, and a leopard skin worn in rituals.

Political activism

Diyabanza is the head of a

pan-Africanist Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

movement called Yanka Nku (''Unité Dignité Courage'', or Unity, Dignity and Courage). He also founded the ''Front Multiculturel Anti-Spoliation'' (FMAS, or the Multicultural Front Against Pillaging), which aims to unite the world's

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

with what he calls their plundered heritage on display in European museums. He also campaigns against the use of the

CFA franc The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight Wes ...

currency in West and Central Africa.

Actions by country

France

In June 2020, Diyabanza and several others entered the

Quai Branly museum A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

in Paris, which has around 70,000 objects from

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. They took a 19th-century funeral post of the

Bari people The Bari are a tribe of Karo, Nilotic people inhabiting South Sudan. The Bari speak the Bari language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Nilotic family. Overview The Bari of the Nile are sedentary agro-pastoralist. They exploit the s ...

; police recovered the object and held Diyabanza in custody for three days. A judge fined him €1,000 for attempted theft. Diyabanza protested that his actions were "part of a protest rather than an attempted theft". The five activists he worked with faced up to ten years in prison and a fine of €150,000 each; four of them were eventually given fines of €250 to €1000 each but avoided prison. A month later, in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, Diyabanza tried to remove an ivory spear from the (MAAOA). Charges were brought against him but he was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

in court. He was ordered to pay the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

€5,000 and a deferred prison term in Paris for removing an object from a display case in the museum. The museum claimed that Diyabanza had "tarnished its image because (his) action had an international and world-media echo".

The Netherlands

In September 2020 he removed a Congolese funerary statue from the

Africa Museum The Africa Museum ( nl, Afrika Museum) is a museum in Berg en Dal in the Netherlands. The museum on the outskirts of the city of Nijmegen is a complex with indoor as well as open-air display areas, covering art, culture, music, photographs, vid ...

in Berg en Dal. In January the following year, he was given a two-month suspended sentence and a €250 fine, including two years

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. Two women who filmed the event and two men who assisted Diyabanza in removing the object were each fined €100 and given one-month suspended prison sentences and two years probation, and all five were banned from entering the museum for three years. Diyabanza believes that when he was at the museum, he saw a bracelet belonging to his grandfather, but did not take it as it was protected by a glass case.

References