The Truth about Dag Hammarskjold’s Killers

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.