Casement Report (part 2)

Prior to the Casement Report there had been accounts coming in from the Congo alleging egregious human rights abuses and exploitation of the native population by King Leopold. For example, British journalist E. D. Morel wrote several articles about the atrocities committed against the Congolese in Leopold’s Congo Free State, prompting the British House of Commons to pass a resolution in 1902 which called o the British government to conduct an investigation regarding possible violations of the Berlin Agreement. As a result, the British consul at Boma in the Congo, Roger Casement, was instructed to investigate. His report published in 1904, which confirmed Morel's accusations, had a considerable impact on public opinion.

E.D. Morel

Casement met and became friends with Morel just before the publication of his report in 1904 and realized that he had found the ally he had sought regarding the Congo matter. Casement convinced Morel to establish an organization for dealing specifically with the Congo question. With Casement's assistance, he set up and ran the Congo Reform Association, which worked to end Leopold's control of the Congo Free State. Branches of the association were established as far away as the United States.