UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $741,524,926.44

Press Release
IK/288

UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $741,524,926.44

GENEVA, 17 February (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) has today made available, in a third round of payments in the second phase, a total of $741,524,926.44 to 64 governments and eight offices of three international organizations for distribution to 188,413 successful claimants.

This amount includes $222,554,000 for 118,207 claims in the fifth instalment of category "A" (claims of individuals for departure from Kuwait or Iraq), and $499,607,218.14 for 69,339 claims in the fifth instalment of category "C" (claims of individuals for damages up to $100,000).

Also included are the claims approved for payment during the thirty-fourth session of the Governing Council: $16,876,126.31 for 764 claims in category "D" (claims of individuals for damages above $100,000), $1,762,582 for 74 claims in category "E" (claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises), and $725,000 for 29 claims in category "F" (claims of governments and international organizations).

The first phase of payments involved an initial payment of $2,500 to each successful individual claimant in categories "A" and "C", as well as payment of the full amount to all successful claimants in category "B" (claims for death or serious personal injury). To date, a total amount of $3,252,337,997.09 has been made available to 1,498,119 successful individual claimants in categories "A", "B" and "C" under the first phase of payments.

In respect of the second phase of payments, the UNCC Governing Council in decision 73 determined that priority of payment will continue to be provided to individual claimants in categories "A" and "C", while also providing meaningful compensation to claimants in categories "D", "E" and "F". 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 1999, the Commission commenced the second phase of payments. Successful claimants in the first and second instalments of categories "A" and "C", and all those with categories "E" and "F" claims that

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had been approved, were paid. Payments were subsequently made on 14 October 1999 in respect of all approved claims in category "D". This was followed by a second round of second phase payments on 18 November 1999 to successful claimants in the third and fourth instalments of categories "A" and "C", and all those with category "E" claims that had been approved after the payments of 23 September 1999. With the present payment, a total of $2,302,251,632.05 has been made available to 671,118 claimants in categories "A", "C", "D", "E" and "F" under the second phase of payments.

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. Presently, funds are made available to the Compensation Fund from the proceeds of the "oil-for-food" mechanism established by Security Council resolution 986 (1995) and subsequent resolutions.

The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the United Nations Compensation Commission to $5,554,589,629.14.

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

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