Ban issues updated note to report on death of former UN chief

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday released a follow-up note to the 2015 report of an Independent Panel of Experts that was established to examine and assess new information regarding the death of former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold.

Stephane Dujarric, Ban's spokesman, said in a statement that the follow-up note includes responses from Belgium, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States to the requests made by the secretary-general, following up on the pending questions of the Panel to the countries and as mandated by the General Assembly.

"I would again urge all member states to continue their search for relevant documents and information, and to review for potential disclosure information which remains classified or undisclosed for other reasons," Ban in the follow-up note.

"I have declassified those archives of the UN for which I am responsible under the relevant rules and regulations, some of which were, at the time of the report of the Panel, still classified at a confidential or strictly confidential level," he added.

The General Assembly also requested that the secretary-general explore the feasibility of establishing a central archival holding or other arrangement that would enable access to relevant records with a view to ensuring their preservation and access.

There is sufficient reason to investigate if the aircraft carrying then-UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold on an African peace mission in 1961 was shot down by another plane, killing all aboard, Ban said in July 2015.

The panel, which Ban established in March to examine new allegations regarding the crash, near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, of the Swedish-operated Douglas DC6 carrying Hammarskjold and 15 others, last year sent its finding to the secretary-general who later forwarded it the 193-member UN General Assembly along with his recommendations to investigate some of the allegations further.

Hammarskjold served as the UN chief from April 1953 until his death at the age of 56 in the plane crash along with 15 others in September 1961.

Ban reached out to individuals and institutions that may hold relevant information to request that they provide an inventory of such information. It noted that responses continue to be received, the statement said.

Both the secretary-general and the General Assembly have previously stated that a further inquiry or investigation would be necessary to finally establish the facts of the matter.

The statement adds that any further inquiry or investigation would benefit from an assessment of potential new information, including from South Africa or other sources.

Ban has recommended that the General Assembly appoint an eminent person or persons to review new information which may exist. Such a person or persons would then be able to determine the scope that any further inquiry or investigation should take.

The statement recalled that Ban has said previously that the most likely source of any additional material would be the files and records of member states, saying that "To this end, (the secretary-general) has again urged all member states to continue to search for and disclose relevant documents and information."

"Ultimately, it is for the General Assembly to decide on any further action," the statement added. Endit