In a last-ditch effort to clarify the still-mysterious circumstances surrounding Patrice Lumumba’s assassination, a court in Brussels on Tuesday ordered a former prominent Belgian ambassador to stand trial.
After the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960, Lumumba became prime minister. However, he was overthrown a few months later and assassinated on January 16, 1961, by secessionist rebels supported by Belgium.
In 2002, a Belgian parliamentary investigation into Lumumba’s murder came to the conclusion that Belgium was “morally responsible” for his demise. However, the first prosecution in connection with the murder is the trial of 93-year-old Count Etienne Davignon, a former EU Commissioner who was a junior diplomat at the time.
Davignon, who is charged with war crimes, is accused by the prosecution of taking part in Lumumba’s illegal arrest or transfer and depriving him of his right to a fair trial. He is accused of “humiliating and degrading treatment” of Lumumba.
Additionally, he is charged with being involved in the killings of Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, two of Lumumba’s political associates. Every other suspect in the case has passed away. Davignon’s attorney declined to comment, and Davignon was not in the courtroom on Tuesday.
As African nations fought for independence from their European overlords in the 1960s, Lumumba emerged as an anti-colonial figure despite the short tenure of his government. Even now, he is still regarded as a folk hero.
For the majority of its post-independence history, the Congolese people have endured authoritarianism and the threat of fatal armed warfare, despite the country’s abundant mineral riches, which include copper, cobalt, gold, and uranium. His assassination signaled a gloomy turn for the country.
Despite his outward declarations of neutrality, Lumumba’s overtures to the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War worried Western governments, and some historians have blamed Washington’s Central Intelligence Agency for his demise.
“It is a step in the right direction,” Lumumba’s granddaughter Yema Lumumba stated following the decision. The lawsuit was first initiated by Lumumba’s surviving family members and has since been taken up by Belgian federal prosecutors. “What we want is to search for truth and establish different responsibilities.”
Born into the Belgian aristocracy, Davignon became a well-known diplomat during his assignment in the Congo. He served as the first head of the International Energy Agency and as a European Commissioner from 1977 to 1985.
Later on, he sat on the boards of numerous publicly traded firms and was the chairman of the Belgian holding corporation Société Générale de Belgique. In 2018, King Philippe of Belgium promoted Davignon to the rank of count.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah