Patrice Lumumba’s Daughter: I’m Demanding Belgium Give Back My Father’s Remains
Sixty years after his murder, Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba’s body has never been recovered — but some of his teeth were kept as “trophies” by Belgian police. In an open letter, his daughter demands that the Belgian state return them to his homeland.
Patrice Lumumba (1924–1961), the first prime minister of the independent Republic of the Congo. (Wikimedia Commons)
Sir,
We ask you to consider that words have little force in such grievous circumstances, powerless as they are to properly bring into relief almost sixty years of pain.
To tell your majesty how much our hearts buckle under the weight of unspeakable afflictions, we remind you that since January 17, 1961, we have had no information to determine with any certainty the circumstances of our father’s tragic death, nor what has become of his remains.
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