315.3/7–254: Despatch
The Ambassador in Switzerland (Willis) to the Department of State
11. Reference: Embtel No. 2 of July 1, 1954.1 Subject: Hearings by Gerety Board in Switzerland.
As reported in my telegram No. 2 of July 1, 1954 Federal councillor Petitpierre, head of the Federal Political Department, requested me to call on June 30. There is given below a fuller account of our conversation on the subject of the hearings by the Gerety Board than it was considered necessary to give in my telegram.
Mr. Petitpierre opened the conversation by stating that as soon as it was reported in the Swiss press that the Gerety Board was coming to Switzerland, it could not be ignored as the fact became public knowledge. He had no choice but to bring the matter to the attention of the Federal Council. It had considered the matter and was opposed to having the Board hold hearings on Swiss territory on the ground [Page 397] that 1) the functioning of this Board on Swiss territory would constitute an infringement of Swiss sovereignty; 2) these hearings contravene in a sense agreements between the Swiss Government and United Nations organizations which have their seat in Switzerland, and 3) they would establish an undesirable precedent. Mr. Petitpierre elaborated that Switzerland could not tolerate having Russia, for example, send a commission to investigate anti-Communist opinions of UN employees. He also remarked that in a sense the function of this commission was judicial as well as administrative. He added that the same objections would not apply if an American citizen were discreetly requested to call to see an American official of the Embassy or Consulate General regularly stationed in Switzerland. He referred to the possibility of having the American employees of UN agencies in Geneva appear in Rome or Paris for their hearing before the Board. He said he mentioned this simply because our relations with France and Italy were on a somewhat different basis from our relations with Switzerland. He summarized by saying that both on juridical and political grounds the Swiss objected to having the Commission sit in Switzerland.
Mr. Petitpierre stated he was giving me no written statement as he preferred merely to request me to make clear to my Government the views of the Swiss Government. He added that no démarche was being made through the Swiss Legation in Washington as he believed that these oral representations would suffice.
I repeated the points about the voluntary aspect of the hearings, the reasons for holding them, et cetera. He replied that he did not take exception to “legitimacy” of the commission and added that the Swiss themselves had recognized the need for security procedures and had in fact established some of their own.
In the light of Mr. Petitpierre’s statement indicating that the Swiss Government is opposed to having the Gerety Board conduct hearings in Switzerland, it was suggested in my telegram No. 2 that instructions should be sent to the Consulate General in Geneva to suspend preparations for the hearings there.
In the Department’s CA–6991 of June 1, 1954,2 it was pointed out that “distance makes it impractical for such individuals in Europe to appear before the Board in the United States and consequently the Board is proceeding to Paris, Rome and Geneva”. In view of the shortness of the distance between Geneva and Paris, the most practical solution might well be to have the Americans employed by the United Nations agencies in Geneva invited to appear before the Board in Paris. As there are at least five persons connected with the Board who would have to have their round-trip expenses paid from Paris [Page 398] with per diem for the entire period the Board would sit there, it would cost very little more to have the Americans who are to be interrogated make the trip to Paris at Government expense.
In view of the firmness of Mr. Petitpierre’s statement, there is no doubt that we should seek to make alternate arrangements for the hearings of the American employees of United Nations agencies in Geneva.