COMPENSATION COMMISSION APPROVES AWARDS OF $380.5 MILLION AT FIFTY-SECOND SESSION

COMPENSATION COMMISSION APPROVES AWARDS OF $380.5 MILLION AT FIFTY-SECOND SESSION

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 2 July (UN Information Service) -- The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission, under the presidency of Ambassador Michael Steiner (Germany), has concluded its fifty-second session today and approved awards of $380,532,962.70 for compensation.

Representatives of Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia addressed the 15-member Governing Council at its opening plenary meeting.  The Council approved four reports and recommendations of the panels of Commissioners concerning claims in categories “D” and “E”:

-- Part two of the eighteenth instalment of category “D” claims (claims of individuals for losses over $100,000) involved 383 claims filed on behalf of individuals by 24 Governments and five international organizations.  Of these, 306 claims filed by 21 Governments and five international organizations were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $127,220,880;

-- Part two of the nineteenth instalment of category “D” claims involved 387 claims filed on behalf of individuals by 17 Governments.  Of these, 337 claims filed by 16 Governments were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $168,097,728.70;

-- The twenty-eighth instalment of category “E4” claims involved “stand alone” claims filed by eight Governments on behalf of individuals seeking compensation, pursuant to decision 123, for direct losses sustained by 57 Kuwaiti companies.  Of these, 50 claims were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $26,511,063.  The report also involved three “E4” Kuwaiti corporate claims, all of which were successful with a total award value of $618,879, and two “E2” non-Kuwaiti corporate claims filed by two Governments, one of which was successful with a total award value of $1,650.

-- The twenty-ninth instalment of category “E4” claims involved “stand alone” claims filed by 10 Governments and two international organizations on behalf of individuals seeking compensation, pursuant to decision 123, for direct losses sustained by 123 Kuwaiti companies.  Of these, 114 claims were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $58,703,291.

The Council discussed a progress report of the Executive Secretary on the activities of the Commission.  The report addressed the processing of claims and the payment of approved awards.

The Council also discussed the report of the Executive Secretary on the distribution by Governments and international organizations of payments to successful claimants, the transparency of the distribution process, and the return of undistributed funds.

The Council adopted decision 227, which continues the application of decision 197 establishing a temporary payment mechanism for future payment from the Compensation Fund to successful claimants.  Under this temporary payment mechanism, up to $200 million from the Compensation Fund will be made available for the payment of claims every quarter.  Successful claimants in all categories will receive an initial amount of $100,000 or the unpaid principal amount of the award, if less, with the disbursement of subsequent rounds of payments of $100,000 to successful claimants in all categories in the order in which they have been approved, until the available funds for distribution have been exhausted.  The next round of payment is scheduled to be made on or about 29 July 2004.

The Council considered and accepted the request of the Government of Iraq to continue the provision of funds for technical assistance in the review of the outstanding fourth and fifth instalmants’ “F4” environmental claims in the amount of $4 million.

The Council concluded its consideration of the request made by the Government of Kuwait at the forty-seventh session in March 2003 with respect to the late filing of claims on behalf of the “bedoun”.  Following extensive consultations and discussions, the Council decided to establish a special expedited programme for the “bedoun” which provides that a fixed amount of $2,500 shall be awarded to each “bedoun” meeting the criteria set by the Governing Council in its decision 225.

Pursuant to decision 219, adopted by the Council at its fifty-first session in March 2004, which provides that, thereafter, “it will not consider or accept any further requests for the late filing of claims in any claims’ category”, the Council concluded that the request made by the Government of Lebanon at the opening plenary meeting of the session concerning the filing of a number of late claims on behalf of its nationals could not be accepted.

The Council decided to hold its next regular session from 21 to 23 September 2004.

To date, the Commission has awarded compensation of approximately $48.6 billion, including the awards approved in the fifty-second session; approximately $18.4 billion of the amount awarded has been made available to Governments and international organizations for distribution to successful claimants in all categories of claims.

Further information about the Commission, including the text of Governing Council decisions and reports and recommendations of the panels of Commissioners, can be found on the United Nations Compensation Commission Web site located at www.uncc.ch.

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