Latest news with #EtienneDavignon
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
HRW: 'The M23 armed group has deported over 1,500 people from eastern DRC to Rwanda'
13:12 Issued on: 13:12 min A new report by Human Rights Watch says that the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo has forcibly deported over 1,500 people to Rwanda. This act, which is allegedly backed by Rwanda, could constitute a war crime and has raised international alarm. Also, Over six decades after the assassination of Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba, Belgium is taking steps to put 92-year-old former diplomat Etienne Davignon on trial for his alleged involvement in the killing. And last month, the Central Bank of West African States blocked transactions from several fintech companies offering money transfer services, citing non-compliance with regulations. This has had a widespread impact: more than half of Senegal's population of 18 million use mobile payment apps, and Senegalese fintech companies claim to be incurring major losses as a result.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Belgium seeking to try ex-official over killing of Congolese prime minister Lumumba
Over 60 years after the killing of the first Congolese prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, prosecutors in Belgium announced Tuesday they were looking to try the last of 10 Belgians accused of complicity in the murder of the iconic leader, in the European country's latest effort to reckon with its colonial past. Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday that they were seeking to put a 92-year-old former diplomat on trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. Etienne Davignon is the only one still alive among 10 Belgians who were accused of complicity in the murder of the independence icon in a 2011 lawsuit filed by Lumumba's children. If he goes on trial, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face justice in the more than six decades since Lumumba was murdered. A fiery critic of Belgium's colonial rule, Lumumba became his country's first prime minister after it gained independence in 1960. But he fell out with the former colonial power and with the United States and was ousted in a coup a few months after taking office. He was executed on January 17, 1961, aged just 35, in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian mercenaries. His body was dissolved in acid and never recovered. Davignon, who went on to be a vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s, was a trainee diplomat at the time of the assassination. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:DR Congo inters independence hero Lumumba's remains after national homageRemains of Congolese independence leader Lumumba returned home
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Belgium seeks to try former diplomatic official over 1961 killing of Congo leader
BRUSSELS: Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday that they were seeking to put a 92-year-old former diplomat on trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. Etienne Davignon is the only one still alive among 10 Belgians who were accused of complicity in the murder of the independence icon in a 2011 lawsuit filed by Lumumba's children. If he goes on trial, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face justice in the more than six decades since Lumumba was murdered. A fiery critic of Belgium's colonial rule, Lumumba became his country's first prime minister after it gained independence in 1960. But he fell out with the former colonial power and with the US and was ousted in a coup a few months after taking office. He was executed on Jan. 17, 1961, aged just 35, in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian mercenaries. His body was dissolved in acid and never recovered. Davignon, who went on to be a vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s, was a trainee diplomat at the time of the assassination. He is accused of involvement in the 'unlawful detention and transfer' of Lumumba at the time he was taken prisoner and his 'humiliating and degrading treatment,' the prosecutor's office said. But prosecutors added that a charge of intent to kill should be dropped. It is now up to a magistrate to decide if the trial should proceed, following a hearing on the case set for January 2026. 'We're moving in the right direction. What we're seeking is, first and foremost, the truth,' Juliana Lumumba, the daughter of the former Congolese premier, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The prosecutor's decision is the latest step in Belgium's decades-long reckoning with the role it played in Lumumba's killing. In 2022, Belgium returned a tooth — the last remains of Lumumba — to his family in a bid to turn a page on the grim chapter of its colonial past. The tooth was seized by Belgian authorities in 2016 from the daughter of a policeman, Gerard Soete. A Belgian parliamentary commission of enquiry concluded in 2001 that Belgium had 'moral responsibility' for the assassination, and the government presented the country's 'apologies' a year later.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Belgian prosecutor seeks to try ex-diplomat over Congolese hero's killing
Belgian prosecutors say they are seeking to put on trial a 92-year-old former diplomat over his alleged role in the 1961 killing of Congolese independence hero Patrice Davignon is accused of involvement in the "unlawful detention and transfer" of Lumumba at the time he was taken prisoner and his "humiliating and degrading treatment", the prosecutor's office said. He has not yet commented. Lumumba's children filed a case in Belgium in 2011 to demand justice after their father was killed aged 35. He was shot dead by a firing squad with the tacit backing of Belgium - the former colonial power in the vast mineral-rich African state now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. His body was dissolved in acid, but a gold-crowned tooth remained. It was handed over to Lumumba's family by the Belgian authorities in the Congolese hero's golden tooth ended up in BelgiumA Belgian parliamentary commission of enquiry concluded in 2001 that Belgium bore "moral responsibility" for the assassination, and the government issued an apology a year later to Lumumba's family and the Congolese nation. Davignon is the sole survivor among 10 Belgians accused of complicity in Lumumba's murder, according to AFP news agency. He was a trainee diplomat at the time of the assassination, and served as the vice-chairman of the European Commission in the 1980s.A magistrate would decide if he should be put on trial, with a hearing set for January 2026. Lumumba's daughter, Juliana, welcomed the development, telling Belgian broadcaster RTBF: "We're moving in the right direction. What we're seeking is, first and foremost, the truth."Lumumba became prime minister at the time of Congo's independence in 1960, but the nation plunged into turmoil soon thereafter. He was later dismissed from the post, and executed by a firing squad, with both Belgium and the US accused of being complicit in his killing. His body was then buried in a shallow grave, dug up, transported 200km (125 miles), interred again, exhumed and then hacked to pieces and finally dissolved in police commissioner Gerard Soete, who oversaw and participated in the destruction of the remains, took the gold-crowned tooth. He later admitted this, and talked about a second tooth and two of the corpse's fingers, but these have not been journey from prime minister to victim of assassination took less than seven after independence, the country was hit by a secessionist crisis as the mineral-rich south-eastern Katanga province declared that it was splitting off from the rest of the the political chaos that followed, Belgian troops were sent in on the grounds that they would protect Belgian nationals, but they also helped support the Katangan administration, which was seen as more himself was dismissed as prime minster by the president and just over a week later army chief of staff Col Joseph Mobutu seized was then placed under house arrest, escaped and re-arrested in December 1960, before being held in the west of the presence there was seen as a possible source of instability and the Belgian government encouraged his transfer to the flight there on 16 January 1961 he was assaulted. He was also beaten on arrival as the Katangan leaders pondered what to do with it was decided that he would face a firing squad, and on 17 January he was shot, along with two allies. You may also be interested in: 'Our colonial regime was racist'MI6 and the death of Patrice LumumbaBelgium 'wakes up' to its bloody colonial past Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
