| dc.description.abstract | Introduction.
From 1953-1961, Dag Hammarskjöld served as United
Nations’ second Secretary General. He pioneered the
Responsibility to protect concept. In 2015, Ban Ki-moon the
organization’s eighth Secretary-General, instituted Eminent
Persons to investigate the circumstances resulting in
Hammarskjöld’s tragic death with colleagues accompanying
him aboard ill-fated flight SE-BDY. Two years later, the
General Assembly extended former Tanzanian Chief Justice
Mohamed Chande Othman’s investigative mandate. On 7
October 2019, their final report calls on Britain, Russia,
South Africa and the United States to conduct a dedicated
internal review of sensitive records to determine whether
relevant information about that incident exists. These four
nations may be withholding information that could solve
the puzzle. Who benefits from continued secrecy shrouding
Hammarskjöld’s death and why? Are murderous “acts of
state” immune from prosecution?
In 1960, Belgium invaded the Congo. In response,
Hammarskjöld’s anticipatory and preventative strategy
relied on information and political intuition. These
charismatic personal mediation qualities first exploded
onto the global stage in 1954, releasing US airmen from
China. Subsequently, during the 1956 Suez crisis, to end
the inaugural UN “Operation Musketeer,” Israel and Egypt
accepted Hammarskjöld’s international peacekeeping force,
prompting Britain’s and France’s withdrawals. Third, in
1958 without a UN resolution, he called for stronger action
in the Jordan-Lebanon crisis. Fourth, in 1959 at the invitation
of Thailand and Cambodia, he deployed a special envoy to
settle a border dispute. These interventionist performances
gave rise to the “Leave it to Dag” slogan, expanding the good
offices role of international organizations. Yet, proactively driving the UN’s 1960 Decolonization Charter irked Western
interests, including the military superpowers. | en_US |
