FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PAYMENT PROCEDURE FOR PEACEKEEPERS' CASUALTY CLAIMS
Press Release
GA/AB/3166
FIFTH COMMITTEE DISCUSSES PAYMENT PROCEDURE FOR PEACEKEEPERS' CASUALTY CLAIMS
19971006 Adequate financial and human resources should be maintained to ensure early settlement of claims for peacekeepers' death and disability benefits, the "Group of 77" developing countries and China told the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) this afternoon as it discussed administrative and budgetary aspects of peacekeeping financing.Speaking for the Group of 77 and China, the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania said the Secretariat should address the need for appropriate guidelines for determining what were and were not mission-incurred events and define "accident" and "incident".
Concurring with recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), Pakistan's representative said administrative arrangements for processing claims should be put in a manual and their implementation systematically monitored. Claims procedures must not involve extensive bureaucratic processes and the system should cover all mission-related incidents.
The representatives of Indonesia, United States, Ghana, Bangladesh, Belgium and the Netherlands also spoke.
The Chairman of ACABQ, Conrad Mselle, introduced his Committee's report.
The Deputy Director of the Peacekeeping Finance Division in the Department of Management, Yeo Bock Cheng, also spoke.
Statements on omissions in a recently published resolution on gratis personnel loaned to the Organization were made by the representatives of Mexico, the United Republic of Tanzania (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China) and Cuba. Syria's representative spoke on inaccuracies in some verbatim records of his statements at previous meetings.
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The Committee Chairman Anwarul Karim Chowdhury announced that appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs, such as the ACABQ, Committee on Contributions and Board of Auditors, was scheduled for Friday, 7 November. The Committee decided that the deadline for submission of candidatives for the vacant posts in the organs was Monday, 20 October.
The Fifth Committee is scheduled to meet again at 3 p.m., tomorrow, Tuesday, 7 October, to continue discussing aspects of peacekeeping financing. It would also consider aspects of the 1996-1997 budget, particularly the Secretary-General's reports on the impact of the $154 million savings on mandates, and additional expenditures related to peace and security, inflation and currency fluctuation.
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Committee Work Programme
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this afternoon to take up administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of peacekeeping operations. Under the agenda item, it is expected to consider third-party liability, reforms of procedures for determining reimbursement to Member States for contingent-owned equipment and proposals on how to pay out casualty benefits.
Budgetary Aspects of Peacekeeping Financing
In his report on third-party claims (document A/51/903) the Secretary-General analyses the provisions of article 51 of the model status-of-forces agreement that the United Nations could sign with countries that host peacekeeping operations, elaborates guidelines for implementing the principles of financial and time limitations on the Organization's liability, and proposes modalities of establishing them in a legally binding instrument.
Article 51 of the model status-of-forces agreement, he says, allows the establishment of a standing claims commission settling disputes of a private law character to which the United Nations peacekeeping operation or any of its members is a party and over which local courts lack jurisdiction due to the Organization's immunity. The commission will have three members, one appointed by the Secretary-General, another by a host government and a chairman jointly by the Secretary-General and the government. Should they fail to agree, he or she may be appointed by the President of the International Court of Justice, at either party's request.
Explaining the need for caps on United Nations liabilities, the Secretary-General says they are premised on the assumption that consensual peacekeeping operations are conducted for the benefit of a host country and that, since it had agreed to the deployment of an operation in its territory, the country should bear the risk of the operation and assume at least part of the liability for damages from such an operation. Time and financial limitations would apply to third-party claims for personal injury, illness or death, and for property loss or damage.
Time -- or temporal -- limitations on submitting claims are meant to ensure that they are presented within reasonable time and before witnesses and evidence disappear and memories fade, the Secretary-General argues. The Organization's financial liability may be capped by limiting compensation to particular types of injury or loss, the amounts payable for each of their types or by referring to the criteria that could guide the claims review board or the standing claims commission in calculating damages.
Having explained their bases, the Secretary-General proposes a time limit of six months for submitting claims, running from when the damage was caused
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or from when it was discovered. It should not, anyway, be later than a year after the termination of an operation's mandate. As for financial limits, he suggests a ceiling of $50,000 for compensations for injury, illness and death, depending on a locality's compensation standards. Awards for property loss and damage should be calculated on the basis of a fair local rental value before United Nations deployment or on the basis of the equivalent of a number of months of the rental value. Payments for personal property should cover the reasonable costs of repair or replacement.
The Secretary-General then asks the General Assembly to endorse the modalities for establishing the time and financial ceilings and to adopt a resolution setting out those limitations.
In its related, consolidated report on third-party claims, reimbursements for contingent-owned equipment and casualty benefits (document A/52/410), the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) recommends that the Assembly endorse the Secretary-General's proposals. Should the Assembly do so, the modalities implementation should be monitored.
The Secretary-General's note on the reform of procedures for determining reimbursements for contingent-owned equipment (document A/51/967 and Corr.1) relays a revised model contribution agreement between the United Nations and States contributing to peacekeeping operations. On the basis of suggestions from the ACABQ and the Legal Counsel, he proposes to replace the term "contribution agreement" with "memorandum of understanding". The note contains a copy of the 15-article Memorandum and its annexes.
According to an annex on personnel, governments would be reimbursed for troop costs at $988 per month per contingent member, $65 a month for each member for clothing allowance and $5 a month for each soldier for personal training ammunition. An allowance for specialists at the rate of $291 per month equivalent to 10 per cent of the personnel of an infantry unit would also be paid out. Contingent personnel would receive directly from the peacekeeping mission a daily allowance of $1.28, plus a recreational leave allowance of $10.5 per day for up to seven days of leave taken in a six-month period. The model memorandum also says who would be responsible for what, spells out conditions for providing equipment and sets standards of performance.
The document states that major equipment provided according to its provisions shall remain the property of the contributing government. The costs of preparing authorized equipment to meet United Nations standards for deployment to a mission, such as painting and United Nations marking, are the Organization's responsibility. It would also pay for returning the equipment to a State's stocks after a mission is over and for repainting them to national colours. Furthermore, the United Nations will meet the costs of
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deploying and redeploying contingent-owned equipment from and to an agreed port of embarkation/disembarkation and the mission area.
In cases of loss or damage resulting from a single hostile action or forced abandonment, the report adds in an addendum, a troop-contributing State will be liable for each piece of equipment when the collective generic fair market value was below the threshold value of $250,000. For those worth equal to or more than that, the Organization would be liable. But when loss and damage is due to wilful misconduct or negligence by members of the troop- contributing country, the United Nations has no responsibility for reimbursement.
In a reference to unspecified "special case" equipment, the memorandum says that reimbursement rates for them would be negotiated separately between a troop-contributor and the United Nations. Loss of or damage to those equipment due to hostile action or forced abandonment would be covered by similarly separate arrangements.
In the same report on third-party claims, reimbursements and benefits (document A/52/410), the ACABQ says it was informed that the memorandum of understanding entailed legally binding rights and obligations and would be legally binding on parties.
In his report on the proposals for administrative and payment procedures for paying death and disability benefits (document A/52/369), the Secretary- General spells out such details as requested by the Assembly. In cases of death, the contingent headquarters would submit a "notification of casualty" form to the force headquarters, which would forward the information to United Nations Headquarters. There, it will be registered in the casualty database by the duty staff of the Situation Centre in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
Continuing, he says that a board of inquiry will determine what led to a peacekeeper's death and establish whether the loss of life was service- incurred. If the board concludes that it is, the force commander, on receiving its report, must certify that the victim was a member of a mission and that the death was service-incurred. The certification is faxed to United Nations Headquarters and copied to the commanding or senior officer of the mission to which the deceased was assigned. After receiving a claim from the permanent mission concerned, $50,000 would be paid in accordance with the government's instructions on the mode of payment.
In cases of injury or disability, a similar procedure is followed, according to the report. But, to determine how much would be paid for disability, a force's chief medical officer and the contingent's doctor will assess the degree of impairment on the basis of the schedule of loss of function approved by the Assembly. The American Medical Association (AMA)
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Guide to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment will serve as the authoritative reference document on applying the schedule of awards. [According to the schedule approved by the Assembly, effective 1 July 1997, benefits for losing an arm from the shoulder would fetch 60 per cent of $50,000, or $30,000; a hand, 54 per cent, or $27,000; a leg from above the knee, 40 per cent, or $20,000; loss of hearing, 35 per cent, or $17,500; and of sight in one eye, 24 per cent, or $12,000.]
Reacting to the procedures on the benefits in its consolidated report (document A/52/410), the ACABQ says it learned that, as of 29 August, out of 4,602 incidents that had occurred, 1,001 claims had been received, with 314 for deaths and 687 for disabilities. Arguing that the Secretary-General's proposals will simplify the claims procedures, the ACABQ recommends that the administrative processes be reflected in a manual and their implementation monitored. It calls for appropriate guidelines to determine what are mission- incurred events and clear definitions of "accident" and "incident".
The ACABQ notes that the Secretary-General had reported that three posts (1 P-4, 1 P-2 and 1 General Service) and one gratis military officer, and other resources were provided to process casualty claims and to eliminate backlog. Adequate staffing should be maintained to clear the backlog, it states.
Statements on PeaceKeeping Financing
CONRAD S.M. MSELLE, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introduced the Advisory Committee's report on third-party claims, reform of the procedures for determining reimbursement to Member States for contingent-owned equipment and death and disability.
MUHAMMAD YUSSUF (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking for the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, expressed confidence that the Secretary-General's proposed procedures for processing casualty claims would be completed quickly and that the new system's scope would cover all cases of mission-incurred death and disability. But, the Secretariat should clarify the points raised in paragraph 13 of the ACABQ report. [In that paragraph, the ACABQ, among other things, says that there is a need for appropriate guidelines for determining what are not mission-incurred events and for clear definitions of "accident" and "incident".]
The Group of 77 and China, he said, concurred with the ACABQ that adequate resources should be maintained for early and full settlement of death and disability claims, including the clearance of backlog. In that context, the G77 and China highlighted the ACABQ recommendation for the allocation of sufficient resources for quick settlement of claims. Member States should pay up their dues on time and without conditions to facilitate such expeditious settlement of claims.
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AMJAD HUSSAIN B. SIAL (Pakistan) associated himself with the statement made by the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania. Pakistan had welcomed the Organization's adoption of uniform rates for death and disability compensation for troops serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations, particularly since it was the largest troop-contributor to the Organization.
Administrative arrangements for processing claims should be put in a manual and implementation should be systematically monitored, he continued. Procedures for such compensation should not involve extensive bureaucratic processes. Perhaps the Fifth Committee should recommend limitations for claims processing. He hoped the Secretariat would provide its views on the matter.
With reductions in the levels of operations, the Field Administrative and Logistics Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations should be able to deploy additional resources for the settlement of backlog and new claims since 1 July, he said. He endorsed the view presented by the ACABQ that adequate staff resources must be maintained to ensure effective processing of claims. The ACABQ recommendation for guidelines to determine which incidents were "mission incurred" and to define "accident" and "incident" should be considered. He was of the view that all mission-related incidents should be within the scope of the proposed system for death and disability compensation.
PRAYONO ATIYANTO (Indonesia), associating himself with the statement made for the Group of 77, said that claims should be reflected in a manual, and implementation systematically monitored. It was of the utmost importance that backlog claims be speedily addressed. The Secretariat had projected two years to address the existing backlog; he asked whether alternative measures could be considered.
MICHAEL BOYNTON (United States) expressed the hope that casualty claims would be processed quickly and the process for paying for contingent-owned equipment would be streamlined. He looked forward to a manual on the proposed administrative arrangements for processing casualty claims. He did not understand how it would take two years to clear the backlog. But once cleared, the staff engaged in that process should be reduced appropriately.
HENRY HANSON-HALL (Ghana) said that a statement in a Secretariat document on the matter of death and disability seemed to contradict the provisions of the General Assembly resolution adopted on the payment of death and disability benefits. The Secretariat should expunge statements that contravened the related Assembly resolution.
HUMAYUN KABIR (Bangladesh) said the agenda item on casualty benefits was very important to his delegation, since his country was a major troop
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contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations. He associated his delegation with the statement made by the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Adequate resources should be maintained to enable the Secretariat to dispose of pending claims. He asked why such a long time was required to clear the claims backlog. Adequate publicity on the claims procedures was necessary, as recommended by the ACABQ.
YEO BOCK CHENG, Deputy Director, Peacekeeping Finance Division, Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts, responding to some of the questions posed, said that the new procedures had moved away from national legislation. As indicated in the Secretary-General's report, the first of the quarterly reports would be submitted in October. Regarding timely processing of claims, whether under the old or new "regime", he said payment had never been delayed after proper review and certification by the Field Administration and Logistics Division. In cases where there had not been funds for the purpose, the Secretariat had issued payments by borrowing funds.
No payments had been processed since July, he continued. The projection that it would take two years to address the backlog was due largely to the fact that a number of countries had difficulty producing the requisite documentation. The Field Administration and Logistics Division had been working closely with those countries to provide assistance in that matter. He said he would pose remaining questions to the Office of Legal Affairs and return to the Committee with that information during informal consultations on the matter.
PETER MADDENS (Belgium) asked whether informal consultations were anticipated. The Committee should approve the recommendations by the ACABQ and allow the Secretariat to continue its work on the claims which had been available since 1 April. An informal procedure was not needed.
The Chairman of the Committee, ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), said the Committee would decide how to proceed. Information from the Legal Office would be made available. He asked whether speakers preferred to speak tomorrow, or whether decision to approve the ACABQ report should be taken today.
The representatives of Nepal, Mexico and Pakistan said they intended to speak tomorrow.
Mr. BOYNTON (United States) said as his question on the Secretariat's plan to reduce staffing after the backlog had been eliminated had not been addressed, discussion should continue tomorrow.
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PAUL MENKVELD (Netherlands) called attention to the fact that the major change in the new report of the Secretary-General on procedures for determining reimbursement for contingent-owned equipment was that it proposed to replace the term "contribution agreement" with "memorandum of understanding". But, the memorandum itself seemed to have legally binding arbitration procedures. He asked whether the model memorandum would be the only procedure to be followed by the Secretariat or whether alternatives would be available. If the document was adopted as it was currently written, the memorandum would take the form of a treaty, which would require the approval of the parliaments of Member States. If that became necessary each time peacekeeping contributions were sought, delays in sending the required equipment would develop, contravening the very purpose of the reforms meant to speed up the process by which equipment were deployed.
Therefore, he continued, the word "parties" in the memorandum should be replaced with "participants", a move that would transform the document from a potentially legal document into a political one. Further, paragraph 13.3 of the memorandum should be deleted. [The paragraph, among other things, spells out the procedures for dispute settlement and the appointment of arbitrators, a process that might lead to the involvement of the President of the International Court of Justice.]
Mr. BOYNTON (United States) said the Secretariat should return to the Committee with a plan on how it intended to reduce the claims staff after the backlog had been cleared.
Statements on Other Matters
MARTA PEÑA (Mexico) said that it had been eight days since her delegation sought some information from the Secretariat on the question of gratis personnel loaned to the Organization by governments and other entities. The Secretariat should not wait until the eve of the end of the current session before providing the answers to the questions.
She recalled that before the adoption of the resolution on gratis personnel at the last Assembly session, the word "regular" was included in the original draft text, requesting the submission of reports on gratis personnel in the regular part of the fifty-second session. However, the revisions agreed to in the Fifth Committee were not reflected in the text presented to the plenary for adoption. At her request, the changes were reflected in the statement of the Committee's former Rapporteur when he introduced the draft to the plenary. Final copies of the document issued last week, however, did not reflect the revisions made in the Committee. Was the Secretariat reluctant to include those revisions? she asked. The Secretariat should tell Committee members when they would receive answers to their questions. Copies of the resolution, as published, should be corrected to reflect the wording agreed to by the Fifth Committee.
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Mr. YUSSUF (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that during negotiations on gratis personnel, it had been agreed that consideration of the matter would take place in the first part of the fifty-second session. The phrase "regular session" had been included in the draft approved by the Committee. The resolution before the Assembly had omitted that phrase, yet upon an oral presentation, the Assembly had adopted the resolution with that phrase included. He requested that resolution 51/243 be reissued with that phrase included in the appropriate paragraphs -- 9, 11 and 14.
TAMMAM SULAIMAN (Syria) asked for corrections regarding the verbatim records of the fifty-first resumed session. Specifically, mistakes had been made in the records of the Committee's fifty-seventh meeting and the Assembly's 101st meeting. He hoped corrections would be made and that future records would reflect greater precision.
DULCE MARIA BUERGO (Cuba) said she supported the statement made by the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania on gratis personnel. In addition, she said, a change approved by the Committee had been omitted from the Spanish version of the resolution on gratis personnel.
The paragraph in question should read: "In carrying out their duties, the gratis personnel must have the same obligations and responsibilities applicable to staff of the Organization", she said. That amendment had been approved by the Committee but not included in the document. She hoped that when it was reissued, the agreed change would be included.
Mr. CHOWDHURY, Committee Chairman, said he would ask the Secretariat to correct the text to reflect those corrections.
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