World / Other
Guterres urges archive access in Hammarskjöld inquiry
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on member states to disclose information and open archives relevant to the plane crash that killed Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN spokesperson said Nov. 4.
Source-checked brief: attributed UN primary-source account; no on-location reporting.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on member states to disclose information and open their archives on the 1961 plane crash that killed former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Nov. 4.
Guterres transmitted to the president of the General Assembly the latest report by Mohamed Chande Othman, a former chief justice of Tanzania who has led the inquiry as the UN’s “Eminent Person.” The report is public as General Assembly document A/80/815, Dujarric said.
According to the spokesman, Othman’s assessment remains that an external attack or threat was a plausible cause of the crash, with sabotage or unintentional human error as alternative feasible hypotheses. Dujarric said the report covers the possible involvement of mercenary pilots or other agents, the possible type of aircraft used in any such act, the role of foreign actors, search-and-rescue information and expert aviation analysis. The briefing did not announce a definitive cause.
Othman assessed that it is “almost certain that material information exists that has not been disclosed by Member States,” Dujarric said. Asked whether the report names countries that have not disclosed information, he replied, “It does.” The General Assembly reopened the investigation in 2014.
Guterres supports Othman’s recommendation that the UN appoint an independent person to continue the work, the spokesman said. Othman’s most recent mandate ended in September with the close of the General Assembly’s 80th session.
What we know / what we don't
What we know
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on member states to disclose information and open archives relevant to the plane crash that killed Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN spokesperson said Nov. 4.
What we don't know
- This brief is based on the attributed UN statement; it is not independent field reporting.
The source record