A Brussels court has ordered that Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat and one-time vice president of the European Commission, stand trial on war crimes charges linked to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Davignon was one of ten Belgians accused by Lumumba’s family of involvement in the killing; the other nine suspects have died, leaving him the only surviving accused. If convicted, he would be the first Belgian official in more than six decades to be held legally accountable for Lumumba’s death.
Prosecutors say Davignon took part in Lumumba’s unlawful detention, in his transfer and the denial of an impartial trial, and subjected him to humiliating and degrading treatment. Davignon’s lawyers reject the allegations and argue the events are too remote to prosecute.
Lumumba, 35 at the time of his death, rose to power when the Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. He was deposed months later and was killed by secessionist forces in the Katanga region that had backing from Belgian interests. After the killing, his body was dissolved in acid and was never recovered.
At the time of the assassination Davignon was a young diplomat involved in negotiations around Congolese independence. Lumumba’s family lawyer described Davignon as “a link in the chain” of what the lawyer called a “disastrous state‑sponsored criminal enterprise.”
The Brussels court expanded the scope of the case beyond prosecutors’ initial requests to include two of Lumumba’s allies who were killed alongside him, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito. Family lawyer Christophe Marchand called that decision “a gigantic victory,” noting that when the case was first filed in 2011 few believed Belgium would seriously investigate alleged colonial-era crimes.
A 2022 phase of the investigation resulted in the return to Congo of what are believed to be Lumumba’s only known remains — a single tooth — which was handed over in a coffin. The tooth had been seized from the daughter of a Belgian police officer implicated in the disappearance of Lumumba’s body. The handover included official apologies from then-Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who acknowledged Belgium’s “moral responsibility” and said officials had at times “chosen not to see” and “not to act.”
Patrice Lumumba remains an anti-colonial icon in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the case has reopened painful questions about Belgium’s role in its former colony and accountability for past abuses.