The Crime of the Congo is a 1909 book by British writer and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, about human rights abuses in the Congo Free State, a private state established and controlled by the King of the Belgians, Leopold II.
The book was intended as an exposé of the situation in the so-called Congo Free State (labelled a "rubber regime" by Conan Doyle), an area occupied and designated as the personal property of Leopold II of Belgium and where the serious human rights abuses were occurring.
Conan Doyle was dismissive of the annexation of the state by Belgium, a situation intended to end the personal rule of the King.
[1] In the Daily Express the book was praised as "the most powerful indictment yet launched against the Belgian rulers of this bloodstained colony".
The Express also noted that "After reviewing the early history of the Congo Free State Sir Arthur quotes the testimony of many unimpeachable witnesses regarding the brutalities of the 'rubber system' and the coldblooded mutilation and massacre of natives during the past fifteen years".