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General Assembly Distr.: General 12 September 2019 United Nations A/73/973 General Assembly Distr.: General 12 September 2019 Original: English Seventy-third session Agenda item 131 Investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him Letter dated 12 September 2019 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly I have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 72/252 concerning the investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him on flight SE-BDY on the night of 17 to 18 September 1961. In accordance with paragraph 1 of that resolution, in 2018 I reappointed as Eminent Person Mohamed Chande Othman to continue to review potential new information, including that which may be available from Member States, to assess its probative value, to determine the scope that any further inquiry or investigation should take and, if possible, to draw conclusions from the investigations already conducted. I recall that I had previously appointed Mr. Othman as Eminent Person in 2017 pursuant to General Assembly resolution 71/260 and, prior to that, as Head of the Independent Panel of Experts appointed pursuant to General Assembly resolution 69/246. In resolution 72/252, the General Assembly requested that I provide an oral briefing on any progress made to the Assembly before the end of the main part of its seventy-third session and to report to the Assembly before the end of its seventy-third session on any further progress made. It will be recalled that, on the basis of an interim report by the Eminent Person, I provided an oral briefing to the Assembly on 3 December 2018. I now have the honour to attach herewith a copy of the report of the Eminent Person. I wish to take this opportunity to renew my profound gratitude to the Eminent Person and to commend him for his excellent work and unwavering commitment. In the report, the Eminent Person reaffirms his previous conclusions, included in his 2017 report (A/71/1042). I note that the Eminent Person has received new information about possible causes of the crash and that advancements have been made in the body of relevant knowledge, most notably regarding the areas of: (a) probable intercepts by Member States of relevant communications; (b) the capacity of the armed forces of Katanga or others to have staged a possible attack against the plane of the Secretary-General (including aircraft, as well as airfields and airstrips); and 19-13394 (E) 041019 *1913394* A/73/973 (c) the presence in the area of foreign paramilitary, including pilots, and intelligence personnel. Further information was also received in relation to the South African Institute for Maritime Research, mentioned in the context of the so-called “Operation Celeste”. While the Eminent Person has made much progress, as evidenced in his report, it is equally clear that the work will need to continue with renewed urgency, with a view to establishing the truth of the tragic event. It will be recalled that in paragraph 5 of resolution 72/252, the General Assembly encouraged all Member States that may hold relevant information related to the death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him to appoint, without any delay, an independent and high-ranking official to conduct a dedicated internal review of their intelligence, security and defence archives to determine whether relevant information exists (Independent Appointees). In accordance with that provision, the Eminent Person approached 14 Member States regarding such appointments. Following my oral briefing to the Assembly and at the suggestion of the Eminent Person, I also engaged with certain Member States regarding their appointment of Independent Appointees. I wish to express my gratitude to Member States, Independent Appointees and private individuals for their cooperation with the Eminent Person and for their willingness to provide additional information. I am pleased to note that the Eminent Person concluded that, on the whole, the engagement of the Member States has been excellent and that the majority of Member States complied with the letter and spirit of General Assembly resolution 72/252. At the same time, the Eminent Person concluded that: (a) not all Member States appointed an Independent Appointee; (b) searches have not been exhaustive in all Member States; (c) Independent Appointees need more time; and (d) the burden of proof remains with Member States to show that they have conducted a full review of their archives and records, including their intelligence, security and defence archives. I take note of the conclusions of the Eminent Person and support the recommendation of the Eminent Person that the United Nations appoint an independent person to continue the work undertaken pursuant to the current mandate of the Eminent Person. I also support the recommendation of the Eminent Person that key Member States that may hold information be again urged to appoint or reappoint Independent Appointees to determine whether relevant information exists in their security, intelligence and defence archives. In this regard, I support the proposal of the Eminent Person that existing Independent Appointees continue their work pending such appointment or reappointment. As I have stated before, in order to establish the truth, we need to ensure comprehensive access to all information relating to this tragic event. In respect of paragraph 4 of resolution 72/252, I note that the Eminent Person has had, and continues to have, unrestricted access to all records and archives of the United Nations and has in fact reviewed a significant number of such records. I also note that all the files of the United Nations Operation in the Congo, held by the United Nations, are now open to the public, without any restriction. 1 Furthermore, I wish to inform the General Assembly that, in the interests of transparency, the United Nations __________________ 1 This is with the exception of 23 files, which retain “strictly confidential” status, consistent with established policies of the United Nations. The Eminent Person reviewed these 23 files and has confirmed in his report that none of them contain any information relating to the probable cause or causes of the tragic event or that was in any other way directly or indirectly relevant to its attending circumstances. 2/95 19-13394 A/73/973 has undertaken a comprehensive declassification exercise and has declassified thousands of additional files in respect of the Congo. Finally, and with reference to paragraph 6 of resolution 72/252, I support the recommendation of the Eminent Person that the United Nations continue to work towards making key documents of the Dag Hammarskjöld investigation publicly available through a dedicated online collection. Through the work of the United Nations Commission of Investigation in 1961, the Hammarskjöld Commission in 2013 and the Independent Panel of Experts in 2015 and the 2017 report of the Eminent Person, as well as the present report of the Eminent Person, a considerable amount of records has been collected. All of these documents are being made available online by the United Nations. In addition, and to the extent not available through the dedicated online collection, the United Nations will continue its engagement with institutions and individuals that may hold records relevant to the matter. I am encouraged by the progress that has been made and wish to call upon all of us to pursue the search for the truth with urgency. Let us not waver at this critical juncture. It remains our shared responsibility to pursue the full truth of what happened on that fateful night in 1961. We owe this to Dag Hammarskjöld and to the members of the party accompanying him. However, we also owe this to the United Nations. I consider this to be our solemn duty and I will do everything I can to support this endeavour. I call upon the General Assembly to remain seized of the matter and to endorse the report of the Eminent Person and his recommendations, as discussed above. (Signed) António Guterres 19-13394 3/95 A/73/973 Letter of transmittal Letter dated 31 July 2019 from the Eminent Person appointed pursuant to General Assembly resolution 72/252 addressed to the Secretary-General In my capacity as Eminent Person appointed pursuant to General Assembly resolution 72/252, I have the honour to submit my report in relation to the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him. I was honoured to be reappointed as Eminent Person in 2018 pursuant to resolution 72/252. I wish once again to express my gratitude for the privilege of the opportunity to undertake this important assignment. I also wish to express my great appreciation, as detailed in my current report, for the cooperation received from representatives of Member States, the staff of the United Nations and private individuals. As in previous years, I acknowledge that this process would not have been recommenced or conducted in as successful a manner without the momentous efforts of those individuals who have given freely and generously of their expertise and information. They are acknowledged by name in my report. I also once again extend my profound respect to the families of those who perished on the night of 17 to 18 September 1961 in the service of the United Nations. At the outset, I note that the 2017 report concluded that the burden of proof had shifted to Member States to show that they had conducted a full review of records and archives in their custody or possession.
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