Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, United Nations Affairs, Volume III

IO files, SD/A/288

Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the Second Part of the Seventh Regular Session of the General Assembly

confidential

[Washington,] February 18, 1953.

Report of the Secretary General on Personnel Policy

the problem

The question of the current personnel policies governing the United Nations Secretariat was included in the agenda of the Seventh Session of the General Assembly at the request of the Secretary General. Inclusion of this item is a direct result of (1) investigations conducted by United States authorities during the past year of charges of infiltration of the United Nations Secretariat by United States Communists and subversive United States citizens, and (2) the opinion rendered by the Commission of Jurists appointed by the Secretary General to advise him concerning the issues arising out of these investigations.

The Secretary General has prepared a report on United Nations personnel policy (A/2364) to be used as a basis for the General Assembly debate. This report is based on the conclusion of the Commission of Jurists that the Secretary General already has authority to terminate or refuse to hire staff members who are subversives. The report states that the Secretary General “should not retain a staff member in the employment of the United Nations if he has reasonable grounds for believing that the staff member is engaging or is likely to engage in subversive activities against any Member government”, and that he should not retain a staff member who has taken recourse to the privilege against self-incrimination in official inquiries concerned with subversion. The Secretary General further reports on the advisory panel that he has established to advise him on the cases referred to it by him. The report makes it clear that the final determination must and should rest with the Secretary General.

On its part, the United States, using the opportunity presented by the report of the Commission of Jurists, has promulgated Executive Order 10422, which calls for the investigation by United States Government agencies (Civil Service Commission and the FBI) of all present United States employees in the United Nations and all prospective United States employees. The purpose is to provide the Secretary General with the information he needs to exercise his authority. The Secretary General has agreed to cooperate, and as a result, personnel data and fingerprint forms are being completed by United States nationals now on the Secretariat and are being forwarded to the United States Government for processing. Should the United States Government loyalty-security practices be changed, consequential changes will be made in the Executive Order.

In the minds of many delegations, the activities of the United States are jeopardizing the independence of the international secretariat, and the United States delegation can expect them to be highly critical of the Secretary General’s report, the report of the Jurists, and the action of the United States.

recommendations

1. The Delegation should do all in its power to insure that the General Assembly approves the policies which the Secretary General proposes to follow, or, if this is not possible, notes the report without comment. This is essential in order that the United States may proceed with the investigation of current and future United States employees of the United Nations.

2. The Delegation should urge the consideration of this item early in the session and, in any event, before the appointment of a new Secretary General is considered.

discussion

The report of the Secretary General presents (1) a complete history of development of the present personnel policies and practices in the United Nations, (2) an account of how the question of subversive activities of staff members became an issue, and (3) his proposals for dealing with this issue. The essence of the policy he intends to follow is, as stated above, that he “should not retain a staff member in the employment of the United Nations if he has reasonable grounds for believing that that staff member is engaging or is likely to engage in subversive activities against any Member government,” and that he should not retain a staff member who has taken recourse to the privilege against self-incrimination in official inquiries concerned with subversion. This policy is based on the conclusions of the Commission of Jurists. In accordance with the Jurists’ advice, the Secretary General assumes that this policy can be carried out within the present Staff Regulations, either under his specific termination powers or under implied powers deriving from the fact that the activities described above constitute a violation of the fundamental obligations placed upon staff members in Articles 1.4 and 1.8.

In order to carry out his responsibilities in this matter, the Secretary General reports that, again acting on the advice of the Jurists, he has appointed an advisory panel. The Secretary General indicates that the terms of reference of this panel will be established after the Assembly has dealt with his report, but that in preparing the terms of reference, full consideration will be given to the requirement of due process of law. The panel consists of:

Chairman of the Panel	—Mr. Leonard W. Brockington, of Canada, appointed in his individual capacity
Members	—Mr. Ralph Bunche, Principal Director, Department of Trusteeship and Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories.
	—Mr. Tor Gjesdal, Principal Director, Department of Public Information
	—Mr. Gustavo Martinez-Cabanas, Deputy Director-General, Technical Assistance Administration
	—Mr. Constantin A. Stavropoulos, Principal Director in Charge of the Legal Department

These policies which the Secretary General intends to follow give reasonable assurance that he will not retain or employ subversive United States nationals. It must be recognized, of course, that these policies employ criteria different from those now used or likely to be used by the United States Government in its own loyalty-security program. It is the hope and expectation of the United States, however, that the information supplied by it in respect of United States Government nationals will be such as to convince the Secretary General that any individual on whom the United States Government has made an unfavorable finding on the basis of United States standards does not measure up to the standards which the Secretary General must apply.

The United States is giving its support to the report of the Secretary General in the belief that it offers a feasible means of accomplishing U.S. objectives without either violating the Charter obligation to respect the independence of the Secretary General or jeopardizing the long-range U.S. interest in maintaining a secretariat responsible to the United Nations rather than to individual member governments.

Even so, indications from other governments are that the standards and procedures which the Secretary General proposes to use and U.S. actions and objectives will be under heavy attack. Under these circumstances, it appears that maximum United States effort and the full influence of the present Secretary General will be needed to prevent rejection of, or undesirable reservations to, the present report.

In its advocacy of the policies contained in the report of the Secretary General, the US Delegation will need to keep the following points in mind:

1. Executive Order 10422, which is included in the Secretary General’s report, will be before the Assembly as representing the methods and procedures which the U.S. Government proposes to follow in submitting comments and making information available to the United Nations on U.S. nationals. Since the release of the report, it has become known that the Federal loyalty-security program will be revised. The development of this new program may not be sufficiently well advanced at the time of General Assembly discussion of this issue to permit the United States to explain its internal procedures. In particular, the extent to which or manner in which the new procedures will provide for hearings and appeals is unknown. The tactic of the Delegation can only be to shift the discussion of the Assembly and concern of other delegations away from processes which the U.S. Government employs in arriving at its decision, and in developing information to be supplied to the UN. and toward the standards and procedures which, the Secretary General will employ to guard against the employment of subversives.

2. It is believed that the standards which the Secretary General proposes to follow and the procedures he has established are capable of providing the necessary protection to the interests of both the member governments and the employees. The test will be. of course, in the body of doctrine developed by the Secretary General and whether he distinguishes between sober representations of the U.S. Government and unsound representations of other governments. If the Secretary General applies his proposed standards faithfully, there should be no unwarranted dismissals of persons who are only out of favor with present governments. If the Administrative Tribunal should challenge the authority of the Secretary General to act in accordance with the policies contained in his report, the United States would support the recommendations of the Jurists that the Secretary General should refuse reinstatement and pay indemnities. Further, the United States would, in such an event, support revision of the staff regulations and the Tribunal regulations to insure that the Secretary General could proceed to carry out the policies outlined in his report without incurring unnecessary expense.

3. While the report of the Secretary General does not rest its case on the host country relationship, the report of the Commission of Jurists does lay a great deal of stress on this relationship. As a result, there may be a tendency for some of the governments supporting the Secretary General’s report to build their justification around the particular situation which exists in the United States and the special consideration which may be due the host government of the United Nations. The Delegation should do everything possible to insure that this argument does not become a significant part of the legislative history of whatever action is taken by the General Assembly. The United States considers that the conclusions of the Jurists and the Secretary General should be applied in the Specialized Agencies in order to insure that subversives are not employed by such agencies. Efforts to obtain such application would be seriously handicapped if the basis for UN action rested, to any considerable degree, upon the special relationship which must exist between the United Nations and the United States, as host country.

4. Emphasis should be laid on US hope that by following the policies outlined in the report, the Secretary General will assure the development of a secretariat of high competence and integrity, meriting confidence of all governments. Care should be taken, however, to avoid any impression, particularly as regards aliens, that the United States proposes to rely solely on the personnel policy of the Secretary General to handle any case of a staff member actively engaged in espionage, as the United States can, take action to safeguard security under domestic laws and the Headquarters Agreement.

It is desirable from the United States point of view to dispose of the personnel issue before the question of the appointment of the Secretary General is discussed. Mr. Lie’s conclusions on the personnel question are generally satisfactory to us and we consider that successful and expeditious handling of this problem requires consideration of his recommendations before his influence is in any way diminished. If a new Secretary General should be appointed before the personnel item is dealt with, the settlement of this whole problem may be jeopardized or at best delayed for a considerable period, pending a report by the new Secretary General.

Material suitable for possible use by the Delegation in debate on the item has been assembled by the Department and is being made available under separate cover.