JURIST - Paper Chase: UN disburses $1.3 billion in compensation for Iraq invasion of Kuwait

[JURIST] The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) [official website] on Thursday announced a disbursement of $1.3 billion [UN News Centre report] to two claimants who suffered damages during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in 1990. The two claimants were compensated for destruction of Kuwait's oil field assets. The UNCC, which was established by the UN in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage stemming from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, has now awarded a total of $40.1 billion to individuals, corporations, governments and international organizations. The UNCC still has $12.3 billion worth of funds to disburse. Payments are collected from export sales of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1483 [text, PDF].

In July the UNCC announced a disbursement of $1.3 billion [JURIST report] to six claimants, including corporations, public enterprises, governments, and international organizations. In June 2005, the UNCC processed its final claim, bringing the total award payments to $53.5 billion. One month prior, Iraq's deputy UN Ambassador Feisal al- Istrabadi claimed [JURIST report] corruption and gross mismanagement of the UN Oil-for-Food program. Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker [JURIST news archive] led an investigation by the Independent Inquiry Committee [official website] into questionable expenditures by the UNCC to determine whether Iraq should be compensated for overcharges by UN agencies.