More than six decades after Patrice Lumumba’s assassination, an ex-Belgian diplomat will stand trial in his death
TheGrio...
The anti-colonial politician served as Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo for two months in 1960 before he was ousted in a coup, later captured, tortured, executed by firing squad and had his remains dissolved in acid.
Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first prime minister, was widely beloved in his nation for his advocacy of African liberation. After his brutal assassination following a coup led by Belgian-backed secessionists in 1961, Lumumba’s body was dissolved in acid.
Now, 65 years after Lumumba’s killing, a man is set to stand trial for war crimes related to his death.
Etienne Davignon, 93, who was a former junior diplomat at the time of the assassination, faces charges of participating in the unlawful detention of Lumumba, depriving him of his right to a fair trial and subjecting him to “humiliating and degrading treatment.”
Davignon, who went on to become a vice president of the European Commission, also stands accused of being involved in the murders of two of Lumumba’s staunchest allies, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito. Both men were killed alongside Lumumba by a firing squad.
A case years in the making
Of the ten men accused of having a role in Lumumba’s death, Davignon is the only surviving member of the group. Lumumba’s family first presented a case in a 2011 lawsuit.
Belgium, in an effort to shed parts of its colonial history, has apologized to Lumumba’s family and Congo for its role in the beloved leader’s death, saying it was morally responsible.
“For over 65 years, there’s been silence, there’s been denial,” Yema Lumumba, Lumumba’s granddaughter, said of the news that Davignon was set to stand trial. “This moment is telling us that the trial will break this pattern, and it sets a precedent. That sort of legal shield around the crimes committed during colonial time is starting to break.”
In June 1960, Patrice Lumumba was appointed prime minister of Congo, the first in the nation’s history. However, his views on Africa’s anti-colonial movement made him a target of Belgium, which considered him a threat to the country’s influence and economic power in the region. In a short time, he fell out of favor with Belgium and the United States, with the latter country believing he was a communist.
Two months after his appointment, he was ousted in a coup, after which he went into hiding. A 1975 U.S. Senate report revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency had established a plot to assassinate Lumumba, though the plan was not carried out.
In 2022, Belgium returned the last remains of Lumumba to his family, a gold tooth. The tooth had been in the possession of the daughter of a former Belgian police commissioner in 2016 when it was seized.
Lumumba remains a hero in Congo, as a statue of him stands in Kinshasa, and the date of his assassination is considered a national holiday.