UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $11,800,599.38

Press Release
IK/282

UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $11,800,599.38

GENEVA, 14 October (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Compensation Commission today has made available a total of $11,800,599.38 to 21 governments and two international organizations for distribution to 687 successful individual claimants in the first, second and third installments of category "D" claims (claims for damages above $100,000). This is the first payment for category "D" claims.

The first phase of payments involved an initial payment of $2,500 to each successful individual claimant in categories "A" (claims for departure from Kuwait and Iraq) and "C" (claims for damages up to $100,000), as well as payment of the full amount to all successful claimants in category "B" (claims for death or serious personal injury). The final payments began on 8 July bringing the amounts made available for compensation in the first phase of payments to a total of $3,153,203,114.60 to 1,457,900 successful individual claimants in categories "A", "B" and "C".

In respect of the second phase of payments, the Governing Council in decision 73 determined that priority of payment will continue to be provided to claimants in categories "A" and "C", while also providing meaningful compensation to claimants in categories "D", "E" (claims of corporations) and "F" (claims of governments and international organizations). The Governing Council decided that transfers shall be made to approved claims in all categories when there are funds in the Compensation Fund sufficient to make a payment of $25,000 (or the unpaid principal amount of the award, if less) in respect of each approved claim. Once that amount has been paid on all awards of claims in categories "A" and "C" and all approved claims in categories "D", "E" and "F", the amount for further payments on all claims shall increase to $75,000 (or the unpaid principal amount of the award, if less). On 23 September, the Commission commenced the second phase of payments by making available $481,224,655 to 73 Governments and nine offices of three international organizations for distribution to 167,730 successful claimants in categories "A", "C", "E" and "F.

Funds to pay the awards of compensation are drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund, which receives 30 per cent of the revenue generated from the export of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products. Funds are made available in accordance with the "oil-for-food" mechanism established by Security Council resolution 986 (1995), and extended by Security Council resolutions 111 (1997), 1143 (1997), 1153 (1998), 1210 (1998) and 1242 (1999).

The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the United Nations Compensation Commission to $3,646,667,679.65.

Further information about the Commission can be found on its website located at http://www.uncc.ch.

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