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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;midas1, post: 4609496, member: 21309&quot;]Beating a Dead Horse -</p><p>Leopold II knew what atrocities the CFS had been committing in the Congo.</p><p><br /></p><p>Belgium continued to interfere in Congo politics,</p><p>including the murder of popular politician Lumumba.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;. . . In 1895, a campaign—in The Times, among others—denounced the abuse in the CFS. Hearing of these allegations, the Belgian King promised changes and reforms and, in that way, managed to keep the reputation of the CFS intact—that is, until the arrival on the scene of Edmund Morel. Hired by Sir Alfred Jones, business partner of Léopold II, Morel used his pen to defend the cause of ship-owners in Liverpool. As a clerk for the company Morel noticed that the ships leaving Belgium for the Congo carried guns, chains, and explosives but no commercial goods, while ships arriving from the CFS came back full of valuable products such as rubber and ivory. This discovery led him to understand the exploitative nature of the regime. To defend the welfare of Africans, Morel launched his own newspaper—The West African Mail—to denounce the brutal exploitation of the natives. This new publication immediately drew the attention of the CFS.[10] The association of Jones and Morel later fuelled the Belgian fantasy that claimed the merchants of Liverpool were plotting against the country. . . &quot;</p><p><a href="https://breac.nd.edu/articles/the-three-lives-of-the-casement-report-its-impact-on-official-reactions-and-popular-opinion-in-belgium/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://breac.nd.edu/articles/the-three-lives-of-the-casement-report-its-impact-on-official-reactions-and-popular-opinion-in-belgium/" rel="nofollow">https://breac.nd.edu/articles/the-three-lives-of-the-casement-report-its-impact-on-official-reactions-and-popular-opinion-in-belgium/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;. . . but the MNC refused to participate without Lumumba. Lumumba was thereupon released from prison and flown to Brussels. The conference agreed on a date for independence, June 30, with national elections in May. Although there was a multiplicity of parties, the MNC came out far ahead in the elections, and Lumumba emerged as the leading nationalist politician of the Congo. Maneuvers to prevent his assumption of authority failed, and he was asked to form the first government, which he did on June 24, 1960. . . &quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba#ref57193" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba#ref57193" rel="nofollow">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba#ref57193</a></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;. . . On the flight there, they had been beaten by the soldiers escorting them, and, once they landed in Katanga, they were beaten again. Later that day, Lumumba, Okito, and Mpolo were executed by a firing squad under Belgian command. Although their bodies were initially thrown into shallow graves, they were later dug up under the direction of Belgian officers, hacked into pieces, and dissolved in acid or burned by fire. .&nbsp; . &quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba" rel="nofollow">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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