Former Belgian diplomat Etienne Davignon has died before being due to stand trial over the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first prime minister and an anti-colonial figure.
Davignon died at the age of 93, the Jacques Delors Institute, where he served on the board, confirmed on Monday. He was the last surviving Belgian official accused in the case. The cases against other suspects ended after their deaths, Reuters reported, citing court officials.
The Lumumba family said the decision to move the case toward trial remained part of the historical record. Their lawyers said they were preparing further legal action including a civil case against the Belgian state.
A Brussels court ruled in March that Davignon should face trial. He was a junior diplomat in Congo at the time, and, according to prosecutors, participated in the unlawful detention and transfer of Lumumba and denied him the right to an impartial trial. Davignon rejected the allegations.
Patrice Lumumba is remembered as a symbol of African independence and anti-colonial struggle. He became prime minister when Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960, but was ousted within months and executed by firing squad in January 1961 at the age of 35. Although Congolese separatists carried out the assassination, questions have long persisted over Belgian and US involvement.
A Belgian parliamentary inquiry in 2001 found that Belgium bore “moral responsibility” for Lumumba’s death, a finding later acknowledged by the government in an official apology. In 2022, Belgium returned a gold-capped tooth – the only known remains of Lumumba – to his family.
Davignon was among ten Belgians originally accused in the investigation. Human Rights Watch said the case included allegations of illegal transfer, “humiliating and degrading treatment,” and deprivation of a fair trial.
The trial was widely seen as a rare attempt to pursue accountability for crimes linked to European colonial rule. Libyan academic Mustafa Fetouri stated that the March court decision was viewed as “a blow to decades of Western legal immunity.”