7 December 2000 IK/299
GOVERNING COUNCIL OF UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION APPROVES AWARDS OF $208 MILLION 20001207(Reissued as Received) GENEVA, 7 December (United Nations Information Service) -- The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) today concluded its thirty-eighth session, in Geneva. It approved awards of $208,738,556.66 for compensation. The delegations of Kuwait and Iraq addressed the fifteen-member Council at its opening plenary meeting. The Council approved three reports and recommendations of the panels of Commissioners. These reports concerned claims in the sixth and seventh instalments of category �D� (claims of individuals for losses over $100,000) and the second installment of category �F2� (claims of governments and international organizations), as follows: The sixth instalment of category �D� claims involved 172 claims filed on behalf of individuals by 18 governments and one international organization. Of these, 148 claims filed by 13 governments and one international organization were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $43,536,772. The seventh instalment of category �D� claims involved 588 claims filed on behalf of individuals by 15 governments and one international organization. Of these, 515 claims filed by 14 governments and one international organization were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $131,692,078.66. The second instalment of category �F2� claims involved 24 claims filed by one government. Of these, 22 claims were approved by the Council for compensation, with a total award value of $33,509,706. The Council adopted a decision approving the conclusions reached by the Working Group on the review of current Compensation Commission procedures. The Governing Council decided at its last session to conduct this review following the agreement reached in the Security Council in September 2000 that the current UNCC procedures be reviewed before the end of the year, taking into account the - 2 - Press Release IK/299 7 December 2000 recommendations of the Executive Secretary. The text of the conclusions of the Working Group is annexed to the decision of the Council. The Council discussed a progress report of the Executive Secretary on the activities of the Commission. The report addressed claims processing and the payment of approved claims. The Council further discussed the report of the Executive Secretary on the distribution of payments awarded to successful claimants, the transparency of the distribution process, and the return of undistributed funds. To date, the Commission has awarded compensation of over $32 billion, including the awards approved in this session. Of the amount awarded, $9.5 billion has been made available to governments and international organizations for distribution to successful claimants in all categories of claims. The session just concluded was the last under the Presidency of the Netherlands. The terms of office of the Netherlands, Argentina, Canada, Malaysia and Namibia as Council members end on 31 December 2000. As of next year, the new members joining the Council will be Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway and Singapore. A special session is scheduled to be held on 24 January 2001 for the purpose of electing a new President. The Council decided to hold its next regular session from 13 to 15 March 2001. NOTE: 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 website located at http://www.uncc.ch. * *** *
United Nations
|