Delivered by Ambassador Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN. United Nations General Assembly, 12 December 2019, New York.
Madam President,
I am pleased to introduce today, on behalf of all the co-sponsors, the draft resolution contained in document A/74/L.20 concerning the investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and the members of the party accompanying him.
We are grateful to all the delegations that have joined us in this endeavor and I would like to thank all co-sponsors, which are now more than a hundred, for their support.
Madam President,
Since 2015, Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman has overseen major progress in the investigation, first as chair of the Independent Panel of Experts and thereafter as the Secretary-General’s Eminent Person. His latest report, published in early October, is substantial and presents valuable new information. We express our sincere gratitude to the Eminent Person and his team for their dedicated work. We also thank all Member States that have collaborated with and contributed to the investigation, particularly those that have appointed national investigators to conduct dedicated reviews of national archives to determine whether additional relevant information exists.
We similarly extend our appreciation to the Secretary-General and the colleagues at the Secretariat, who have worked to ensure that the United Nations has reviewed its own specific records and archives for declassification of information relevant to this case.
Madam President,
In his latest report, the Eminent Person concludes that it remains plausible that an external attack or threat was a cause of the crash. There are specific matters that warrant further follow-up and in light of this, and in firm support of the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the way forward, Sweden, together with partners, is introducing the draft resolution before you today.
The resolution has six operational elements, of which the most important are contained in operational paragraphs one, three and four.
Operational paragraph one requests the Secretary-General to reappoint the Eminent Person to continue his work. This extensive investigation benefits immensely from continuity, and we firmly believe that no one is better placed than Chief Justice Othman to continue and conclude the investigation. Much work has already been done and therefore we believe that it is possible to conclude the investigation over the next extended mandate. We therefore also request the Eminent Person to draw conclusions from the investigation by the end of the seventy-fifth session.
But this requires full cooperation by Member States. Operational paragraph three therefore specifically requests those Member States referred to in the report to cooperate with and assist the Eminent Person fully, including by appointing without delay independent and high-ranking officials to conduct a dedicated internal review of their intelligence, security and defence archives to determine whether relevant information exists. The paragrapf also encourages the Eminent Person to remain engaged with all high-ranking officials, including those who have concluded their work, in order to draw upon their work and gained expertise on the matter.
In his report, the Eminent Person recognizes that not only Member States but also individuals have contributed through sharing expertise and information. Therefore, operational paragraph four calls upon Member States to encourage individuals and private entities to ensure that any relevant records related to the death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him are made available for review by the Eminent Person.
We trust that the resolution, like previous years, will be adopted without a vote and we count on the full cooperation of all Member States in the implementation of the resolution. It is our shared responsibility to pursue the full truth in this matter.
Madam President,
Since the resolution contains a small programme budget implication, as you referred to, adoption will take place once the Fifth Committee has considered this matter later this month. In the meantime, the list of cosponsors will remain open, and we encourage all Member States to join us and again thank our partners for their support.
The UN and all its Member States must continue to do everything possible to ascertain what happened with flight SE-BDY, the "Albertina”. We owe it to the families of those who perished 58 years ago and we owe it to the United Nations as an organization.
Madam President,
I would like to conclude with a personal note. This is my last appearance in the General Assembly in my capacity as Permanent Representative of Sweden. I am particularly pleased that today’s topic happened to be about Dag Hammarskjöld. Sweden is immensely proud of Dag Hammarskjöld and the work he did as Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was a man who believed strongly in the equal rights of nations, large and small. He was a champion of peace with an extraordinary sense of duty and vision. He was a spiritual man with great integrity. He had faith in people and he had faith in this organization. To honor his legacy, I hope we can renew our commitment to multilateralism and strengthen the United Nations.
I thank you, Madam President.
- Item 128 - A/74/L.20