765.84/1033: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 5—12:59 a.m.]
291. The award of the Italo-Ethiopian Arbitration Commission concurred in by all five members70 was transmitted to the Secretary General today by Aloisi and Jèze and at the latter’s request communicated to the Council. With respect to the Wal Wal incident, the [Page 642] Commission’s findings based on a comprehensive 5-page review of the circumstances are as follows:
“(1), That neither the Italian Government or its agents on the spot can be held responsible in any way for the actual Wal Wal incident; the allegations brought against them by the Ethiopian Government are disproved in particular by the many precautions taken by them to prevent any incident on the occasion of the assembling at Wal Wal of Ethiopian regular and irregular troops and also by the absence of any interest on their part in provoking the engagement of December 5th and, (2), that although the Ethiopian Government also had no reasonable interest in provoking that engagement its local authorities by their attitude and particularly by the concentration and maintenance, after the departure of the Anglo-Ethiopian Commission, of numerous troops in the proximity of the Italian line at Wal Wal may have given the impression that they had aggressive intentions—which would seem to render the Italian version plausible—but nevertheless it had not been shown that they can be held responsible for the actual incident of December 5th.”
With respect to the incidents following the Wal Wal affair (from December 6th, 1934 to May 25th, 1935) it states that these were of a minor character either accidental or of very ordinary occurrence in the region and that no international responsibility need be involved.
- N. Politis, Greek Minister in France, became fifth member and arbiter of the Commission.↩