Brussels – Belgium has not yet come to terms with its colonial—and post-colonial—past in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yesterday (17 March), the Brussels Criminal Court committed to trial Étienne Davignon, a former Belgian diplomat and European Commissioner between 1977 and 1985, for his alleged role in the unlawful detention of the first leader of independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba, and in his subsequent transfer to the secessionist region of Katanga, where he was killed in early 1961. In particular, the Federal Prosecutor accuses Davignon of the offences of illegal detention and transfer of a prisoner of war, as well as deprival of his right to a fair trial and the infliction of humiliating and degrading treatment: the prosecution’s argument is that the former Belgian diplomat, whilst not having been directly involved in Lumumba’s assassination, was aware of the intention to transfer him to Katanga (where the likelihood of him being eliminated by his main internal enemies was high) and did nothing to prevent it.
As leader of the Congolese National Movement (MNC), Lumumba was the leading figure in the struggle for Congo’s independence between the late 1950s and early 1960s. In June 1960, once the country had gained independence, he won the first free elections in the history of the Congo and was appointed Prime Minister. Lumumba’s strongly anti-colonial stance seriously jeopardised Belgium’s ability to maintain its political and economic influence over the country and its vast natural resources. Thus, a few months after his election, in September 1960, a coup d’état, supported by the Belgian government and carried out by General Joseph Mobutu, led to Lumumba’s removal from office, his abduction, and, finally, his transfer to Katanga. Under the leadership of the secessionist and pro-Belgian leader Moïse Tshombé, government officials in the region were notoriously hostile towards Lumumba, and on 17 January 1961, they killed him and then dissolved his body in acid.
In 2000, after decades of virtual silence regarding Belgium’s involvement in the affair, a parliamentary commission of inquiry found the country’s government at the time “morally responsible” for what had happened to Lumumba. In essence, this meant that, although there was no evidence proving the Belgian government’s direct involvement in the Congolese leader’s murder, some of its officials stationed in the Congo had done nothing to prevent him from being killed after his arrest and handover to the Katanga secessionists. It was precisely in the wake of this parliamentary inquiry that, in 2011, Lumumba’s relatives filed a complaint for war crimes, which triggered the current investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Of the eleven Belgian officials under investigation, the only one still alive is 93-year-old Davignon, who, at the time of the events, was undertaking a diplomatic traineeship in Congo. The former European Commissioner—who has always denied any involvement —will thus become the first and only defendant in a criminal trial concerning the abduction and murder of the Congolese national hero.
Whilst Davignon’s lawyers chose not to comment on the decision to commit the case for trial, Lumumba’s relatives immediately called a press conference to emphasise the importance of this landmark decision “in obtaining answers and acknowledging Belgium’s responsibility for a heinous criminal enterprise.” For Blandine Lumumba, one of the former prime minister’s daughters, “this trial will be important for everyone: whatever their social class, race or gender, everyone will be able to follow it and learn something.” Her nephew Mehdi echoed this sentiment, arguing that Davignon’s trial will allow Belgium to “finally face up to its history.”
Following his diplomatic posting in the Congo in 1961, Davignon’s career at European level began in 1970 when, as chairman of a committee tasked with drawing up proposals for the revitalisation of Community cooperation in the field of foreign policy, he presented the homonymous Report, in which he called for the establishment of a system of regular information and consultation between the foreign ministers of the Member States and the holding of periodic meetings between them to discuss the main international issues. After serving as the first president of the International Energy Agency in 1975, and as a member of the Christian Democratic Party Les Engagés, he was appointed European Commissioner for the Internal Market, the Customs Union and Industrial Affairs within the Commission chaired by the British politician Roy Jenkins. In 1981, upon the appointment of the executive led by the Luxembourger Gaston Thorn, he was confirmed as European Commissioner for Belgium and took over the Energy portfolio. For the time being, the European Commission is reviewing the news of Davignon’s indictment, but is not commenting on the matter, postponing any statement until a later date.
His trial is not expected to begin until January 2027 at the earliest.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
