The creation of this investigation committee is a consequence of the debates held in the Commission for Foreign Relations on 8 December 1999 following the publication of the book “The Murder of Lumumba” by Ludo De Witte. Besides reaching conclusions about Belgian responsibilities in the murder of the first Prime Minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba (and his fellow-victims Okito and M’polo), it was also the intention to instigate a debate on colonisation and decolonisation.