UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT NEARLY $470 MILLION

UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT NEARLY $470 MILLION

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 24 October (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Compensation Commission has made available today in the eighth payment of the third phase of the payments mechanism a total of $469,206,508.75to 28governments for distribution to 708 successful claimants.  Payment of an initial amount of $15 million per successful claim, or of the full amount of the award if less, is being made in respect of claims in category "D" (claims of individuals for damages above $100,000), category "E" (claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises), and category "F" (claims of governments and international organizations) that were approved at the forty-fifth session of the Governing Council, held from 1 to 3 October. 

A further payment of up to $10 million is also being made to a number of claimants in categories "E" and "F" whose claims were approved in prior Governing Council sessions and who had previously received payment of only $15 million.  Payment of such additional amounts is based on the order in which the claims were approved.

The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the United Nations Compensation Commission to $16,047,828,950.70.

The first phase of payments involved an initial payment of $2,500 to each successful individual claimant in categories "A" (claims of individuals for departures from Kuwait or Iraq) and "C" (claims of individuals for damages up to $100,000), as well as payment of the full amount to all successful individual claimants in category "B" (claims for death or serious personal injury).  In the second phase, payments of up to $100,000 were subsequently made available to approved claims in categories "A", "C", "D" (claims of individuals for damages above $100,000), "E" (claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises), and "F" (claims of governments and international organizations) in two rounds comprising payment amounts of up to $25,000 and $75,000 respectively.  The second phase concludes payment of the full amount to all successful claimants in categories "A" and "C".  A total of $8,383,397,100.94 has been made available to 1,503,184 claimants in all categories under the first and second phases of payments.

In the third phase of the payments mechanism, which commenced in October 2000, each successful claimant in categories "D", "E" and "F" shall receive an initial amount of up to $5 million in accordance with decision 100 of the Governing Council of the Compensation Commission.  Subsequent rounds of payments of up to $10 million are to be made to successful claimants in these

categories of claims in the order in which they have been approved.  Including today's payment, a total of $7,664,431,849.80 has been made available to 7,018 claimants in categories "D", "E" and "F" under the third phase.

To ensure that payments to claimants are made as soon as practicable after the session at which their claims are approved, the Governing Council decided at its forty-third session (March 2002) that payments to successful claimants will be made every three months instead of every four months.

Funds to pay the awards of compensation are drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund, which receives up to 30 per cent of the revenue generated by the export of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products.  At present, the Compensation Fund receives 25 per cent of the proceeds under the "oil-for-food" mechanism in accordance with Security Council resolution 1409 (2002).

The Governing Council monitors the distribution of payments to claimants by the relevant governments and international organizations.  Governments and international organizations are obligated to distribute funds to successful claimants expeditiously and to report to the Commission on payments made to claimants.  Any funds undistributed to claimants by governments and international organizations within 12 months of receiving payment shall be returned to the Commission.  Further payments to governments and international organizations shall be suspended where they fail to report on the distribution of funds to successful claimants or fail to return undistributed funds on time.

Further information about the Compensation Commission as well as a table listing the governments receiving funds and the amounts of money to be made available to each of them can be found on the Commission Web site located at www.uncc.ch.

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