The United Nations Security Council unanimously decided Tuesday to terminate Iraq’s obligation to compensate victims of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, after Baghdad paid more than $50 billion to 1.5 million claimants. After the vote, Michael Gaffey, Ireland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and president of the governing board of the United Nations Compensation Commission, whose fund adjudicated the claims, told the council that the body’s work represented a “historic achievement for the United Nations and effective multilateralism.”
“In the end, the commission received 2.7 million claims requesting $352 billion in compensation,” he explained, adding that the $52.4 billion given to 1.5 million claimants “represents approximately 15% of the overall claims.”
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990
Iraq was compelled to set aside a percentage of earnings from oil exports for the fund to pay conflict victims under a Security Council resolution established in April 1991 after a US-led coalition destroyed Saddam Hussein’s forces and liberated Kuwait in the first Gulf War. This percentage was 5% in 2013 when the council resolved to halt the possibility of military enforcement of various restrictions placed on Iraq during the invasion in acknowledgment of improved ties with Kuwait. On January 13, the threshold was set at 3% for Iraq’s final payment.
Gaffey stated that the governing council reached a final resolution on February 9 pronouncing that Iraq’s government had met its international duties to compensate for losses and damages incurred directly as a result of its unlawful invasion of Kuwait.
He stated that the fund’s governing board prioritized claims from persons forced to flee Iraq or Kuwait, as well as those who sustained injuries, lost a spouse, child, or parent, or sustained personal losses of up to $100,000. He stated that this humanitarian ruling “marks a watershed moment in the evolution of international claims practice.”
However, certain companies and enterprises obtained funding. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation successfully sought $14.7 billion in compensation for oil production and sales losses caused by damage to the country’s oil resources during the Iraqi invasion and occupation in 1990-1991.
The Security Council resolution adopted Tuesday affirms that Iraq has met its international obligations, that “Iraq is no longer required to deposit a percentage of proceeds from petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas export sales into the fund,” and that the commission’s claims process is “complete and final, and that no further claims shall be made to the commission.”
The council revoked the commission’s mandate pursuant to the 1991 resolution and directed it to resolve the remaining issues by the end of 2022. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told the council that his country has closed “a critical 30-year chapter in its diplomatic, political, and economic journey.”
“This will be an era of increased regional and international prominence, commensurate with Iraq’s historical and cultural significance in the region and throughout the world, an era in which Iraq will be an active member devoted to the international community’s objectives and aims,” he added.
Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi applauded the resolution’s unanimous passage and lauded the council for “such a historic success in its compensation work.” “We are well aware that the purpose of compensation is not to punish the aggressor but to assure accountability,” he said, adding that it is intended to hold the aggressor accountable for damages and to instill “confidence in impacted governments and individuals.”
Al-Otaibi stated that the world should not forget that establishing compensation and addressing the impact of aggression “is critical to establishing trust, reconciling, and resolving any remaining issues that may stand in the future in the way of restoring and forging relations, as well as achieving the states’ common interests.”