Mr. Hammarskjöld served as Secretary-Common from April 1953 till his loss of life aged 56, when the chartered Douglas DC6 plane he was travelling in with others, registered as SE-BDY, crashed shortly after midnight on 17-18 September 1961, close to Ndola, then in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
He was en route to barter a ceasefire between UN peacekeepers and separatists from the breakaway Congolese area of Katanga, and presumably even a peace settlement encompassing the entire of newly unbiased Congo.
Fourteen of the 15 passengers died on affect, and the only real survivor succumbed to their accidents a number of days later.
An preliminary inquiry by Rhodesian authorities reportedly attributed the crash to pilot error however the discovering was disputed.
Eyewitness accounts prompt a number of eventualities, that “a couple of plane” – presumably a jet – was noticed within the air, “SE-BDY was on fireplace earlier than it crashed”, and/or “SE-BDY was fired upon or in any other case actively engaged” by one other plane.
Common Meeting motion
Over time, the UN Common Meeting has mandated a sequence of inquiries into the loss of life of Mr. Hammarskjöld and people of his social gathering. The latest, in December 2022, was led by Mohamed Chande Othman, former Chief Justice of Tanzania, with the formal title of “Eminent Particular person”.
Mr. Othman additionally led a number of earlier investigations into the fateful crash and the occasions surrounding it.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres transmitted Mr. Othman’s newest report back to the Meeting.
Important new info
In accordance with the UN’s Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, “important new info” has been submitted to the inquiry for this newest replace.
This included possible intercepts by Member States of communications associated to the crash, the capability of Katanga’s armed forces, or others, to mount an assault on SE-BDY and the involvement of overseas paramilitary or intelligence personnel within the space on the time.
It additionally included further new info related to the context and surrounding occasions of 1961.
“At this juncture, [Mr. Othman] assesses it to stay believable that an exterior assault or menace was a explanation for the crash. [He] notes that the choice hypotheses that seem to stay accessible are that the crash resulted from sabotage or unintentional human error,” Mr. Haq stated.
Paperwork nearly actually withheld
Nevertheless, Mr. Othman assesses to date that it’s “nearly sure” particular, essential and to date undisclosed info exists within the archives of Member States, Mr. Haq stated.
He famous that Mr. Othman has not obtained, thus far, particular responses to his queries from some Member States believed to be holding helpful info.
“The Secretary-Common has personally adopted up on [Mr. Othman’s] excellent requests for info and calls upon Member States to launch any related information of their possession,” Mr. Haq added.
“With important progress having been made, the Secretary-Common calls on all of us to resume our resolve and dedication to pursue the total fact of what occurred on that fateful night time in 1961.”
‘A unprecedented man’
Appointed at simply 47 years outdated, Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden stays the youngest UN Secretary-Common.
Extensively considered a visionary diplomat and reformer, Mr. Hammarskjöld is credited with strengthening the function of the newly established UN throughout a interval of intense world tensions, together with the drive to decolonise Africa and Asia.
“Hammarskjöld was not often a companionable man, however he was actually a rare one, and we have been all ready – certainly anxious – to serve him with out query to the restrict of our powers and endurance,” Sir Brian Urquhart, a former senior UN official, remarked.
His management was pivotal through the tumultuous occasions of 1956. He led a ceasefire mission to the Center East and continued by the Suez disaster, the place he helped negotiate the withdrawal of overseas forces from Egypt and oversaw the deployment of the Group’s first emergency peacekeeping mission, the UN Emergency Pressure.
Mr. Hammarskjöld was identified for his integrity and dedication to public service, incomes the Nobel Peace Prize “for growing the UN into an efficient and constructive worldwide group able to giving life to the ideas and goals expressed within the UN Charter”.
He’s the one Nobel Peace Prize Laureate to have been awarded the excellence posthumously.