Bangladesh, April 4 -- History has a way of lingering in the shadows until someone insists on turning on the light. The impending criminal trial of Étienne Davignon in Brussels is one such moment-an inflection point where the past is no longer permitted to remain a matter of regret, but is forced into the sharper, more demanding realm of legal accountability. After sixty-five years, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba is no longer being treated as an unfortunate episode wrapped in diplomatic language. It is being reframed as a potential war crime, and that shift may have consequences far beyond Belgium.

For decades, the dominant Western narrative around Lumumbas killing rested on what could be described as the politics of acknowled...