There were nearly 300 white hostages imprisoned in the Victoria Hotel when the sun rose over Stanleyville, now Kisangani, on 24 November 1964. A few hours later, many lay dead, brutally hacked to death or shot by their rebel captors. Others, the lucky ones, would thank God later that day that they had survived the premeditated and cold-blooded slaughter.
The Congo had been engulfed by a communist-backed armed rebellion in early 1964, after four years of independence from Belgium. The Reds wanted the vast mineral wealth of the Congo, but America in the form of the CIA stepped in and, assisted by Belgium, funded a mercenary army whose objective was to keep the Congo aligned to Western interests.
At 07h00 the Simbas started ordering the hostages out of the hotel and on to the street. About 50 managed to hide on the upper floors of the building. Colonel Joseph Opepe was in charge of the dozen or so Simba guards who were armed with automatic weapons. Opepe had been friendly to the hostages, and to some it seemed he was stalling for time. However, his men taunted the hostages, saying: “Your brothers have come from the sky, you will be killed now.”
Machine-guns blazed out at point-blank range as the Simbas carefully selected women and children as their first targets. A Belgian girl of six was cut in half by a hail of bullets. A Belgian priest had his leg severed above the ankle and bled to death. Phyllis Rine, an American, was wounded and bled to death. After the initial shock the prisoners broke and ran. Some were trapped and brutally killed. Dr Carlson dashed for cover but was gunned down as he leaped over a low wall. A bullet had struck his temple.
The mayor of Stanleyville, Sylvere Bondekwe, a greatly respected and powerful man, was forced to stand naked before a frenzied crowd of Simbas (rebels) while one of them cut out his liver. This was given to the mob to eat, still hot and throbbing, as the victim died in agony before their eyes.
“Among the prisoners in Stanleyville were the entire staff of the American consulate, all arrested in defiance of diplomatic convention, and held in jail for no reason other than that their lives were a means of preserving the tottering rebel regime. But the full fury of the rebel government fell on the unfortunate Dr Paul Carlson, an American whose life had been devoted to the healing of sick Congolese.” On two occasions he was sentenced to death “for spying”, but execution had been stayed at the last moment when the rebels realised his life represented a further bargaining counter against the Leopoldville government.
The hostages were hacked to pieces on the street. Among them were four Spanish nuns and a number of Spanish and Dutch priests. According to a witness, the priests were beaten and then their throats were cut. After similar treatment, the nuns were placed on top of them. The usual mutilations were carried out on the" sexual organs, and flesh was cut from the bodies to be eaten.
One Belgian who escaped said: "We bought our lives with beer and money.
The fathers and nuns had nothing to ransom their lives with." Of some 1,300 whites in Stanleyville, all but 60 were rescued.
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