Page "Patrice Lumumba" Paragraph 12

Later that night, Lumumba was driven to an isolated spot where three firing squads had been assembled.

According to David Akerman, Ludo de Witte and Kris Hollington, the firing squads were commanded by a Belgian, Captain Julien Gat ; another Belgian, Police Commissioner Verscheure, had overall command of the execution site.

The Belgian Commission has found that the execution was carried out by Katanga's authorities, but de Witte found written orders from the Belgian government requesting Lumumba's execution and documents on various arrangements, such as death squads.

It reported that President Tshombe and two other ministers were present with four Belgian officers under the command of Katangese authorities.

Lumumba and two other comrades from the government, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, were lined up against a tree and shot one at a time.

The execution probably took place on 17 January 1961 between 21: 40 and 21: 43 according to the Belgian report.

According to Adam Hochschild, author of a book on the Congo rubber terror, Lumumba's body was disposed of in an unmarked grave by a CIA agent.