* Rosemary E. Libera is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review.
1 Resolution 687, 30 Int’l L. Materials 846, 852, ¶ 16 (1991).
2 Carlos Alzamora, The U.N. Compensation Commission: An Overview, in The United Nations Compensation Commission 1, 3 (Richard B. Lillich ed., 1995).
3 Resolution 687, supra note 1, at 852, ¶ 18 (1991).
4 See Frederic L. Kirgis, Jr., Claims Settlement and the United Nations Legal Structure, in The United Nations Compensation Commission, supra note 2, at 103, 114.
5 Alberto Bin, et al., Desert Storm: A Forgotten War 16 (1998).
6 All monetary values throughout this Note are in United States dollars.
7 The Claims, in The United Nations Compensation Commission [hereinafter UNCC], at http://www.unog.ch/uncc/ (last modified Jan. 29, 2001).
8 Adel Omar Asem, Establishment of the U.N. Compensation Commission: The Kuwaiti Government Perspective, in The United Nations Compensation Commission, supra note 2, at 45, 46–55.
9 Alex N. Dragnich, Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Case Study of Anarchy in the Third World, 3 Cardozo J. Int’l & Comp. L. 163, 166 (1995). Other causes of the conflicts in Yugoslavia included struggles over the scarce resources of productive capacity, infrastructure, and hard currency. Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedia 83 (John B. Allcock et al. eds., 1998) [hereinafter Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia].
10 Dragnich, supra note 9, at 167.
11 Id.
12 Id. at 169.
13 Id. at 168, 169.
14 Id. at 168–69.
15 Philip J. Cohen, Ending the War and Securing Peace in the Former Yugoslavia, 6 Pace Int’l L. Rev. 19, 30 (1994).
16 Steven L. Burg & Paul S. Shoup, The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina 169–71 (1999) (damage to individuals); Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84 (damage to infrastructure).
17 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
18 Id. at 38. Contra Burg & Shoup, supra note 16, at 169–71 (discussing the range of death estimates).
19 United Nations, List of Member States, at http://www.un. org/Overview/unmember. html (last modified Dec. 18, 2000).
20 Id.
21 Id.
22 U.N. Charter art. 2, para. 4; see also U.N. Charter art. 2., para. 3 (“All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.”).
23 U.N. Charter arts. 39–51 (Chapter VII).
24 U.N. Charter art. 39.
25 Resolution 687, supra note 1, at 852, ¶ 16 (Iraq); Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113 (Yugoslavia).
26 Abbas Alnasrawi, The Economy of Iraq: Oil, Wars, Destruction of Development and Prospects, 1950–2010, at 118 (1994).
27 Rosemary Hollis, Overview, in Oil and Regional Developments in the Gulf 6 (Rosemary Hollis ed., 1998).
28 Cohen, supra note 15, at 38–39. One difference does exist between the Chapter VII positions taken by the U.N. toward Iraq and Yugoslavia: the Security Council never expressly found that Yugoslavia had committed an act of open aggression. See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113, 113 n.46. Since the U.N. took Chapter VII action against both countries, however, the difference is not crucial. See id.
29 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 254.
30 Alzamora, supra note 2, at 4.
31 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113–14.
32 Bhushan Bahree, Gulf War Claims Against Iraq Could Top $100 Billion, With Deadlines Nearing, Wall St. J., June 29, 1994, at A13, available at 1994 WL-WSJ 334009 (“Were it not for Iraq’s potential oil earnings, compensation would be unlikely” for those individuals and entities damaged as a result of the war).
33 Neil King Jr., Can the Iraqis Pay the Bill?, Wall St. J., Aug. 18, 1997, at A1, available at 1997 WL-WSJ 2431795.
34 Cohen, supra note 15, at 27.
35 See id.
36 Resolution 687, supra note 1, at 852, ¶ 16. Resolution 674, the predecessor to Resolution 687 signed by the Security Council in October 1990, demanded that Iraq cease and desist from its illegal wartime conduct and reminded Iraq that it was liable under international law for any damage it caused. Resolution 674, 29 Int’l L. Materials 1560, 1562, ¶ 1, 1563, ¶ 8 (1990); see also Resolution 686, 30 Int’l L. Materials 567, 568–69 (1991) (demand on Iraq signed in March 1991).
37 Resolution 687, supra note 1, at 852, ¶ 18.
38 Id.; see also Resolution 692, 30 Int’l L. Materials 864, 865, ¶ 3 (1991) (establishing Compensation Fund and Compensation Commission in accordance with the recommendations of the Secretary-General).
39 Resolution 687, supra note 1, at 852, ¶ 19.
40 Alzamora, supra note 2, at 3–4.
41 The Governing Council, in UNCC, supra note 7; The Commissioners, in UNCC, supra note 7; The Secretariat, in UNCC, supra note 7.
42 The Governing Council, supra note 41.
43 Id. Thus, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. are permanent members of the UNCC. Id. They do not, however, have the power to veto compensation decisions as they have the power to veto regular Security Council resolutions. Id. UNCC decisions are adopted when nine or more members of the Governing Council grant their approval. Id.
44 The Commissioners, supra note 41.
45 Id.
46 The Secretariat, supra note 41. The Secretariat consists of the Executive Secretary, the Claims Processing Division, the Support Services Division, and the Governing Council Secretariat. Id.
47 Claims Processing, in UNCC, supra note 7; Charles N. Brower, The Lessons of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal Applied to Claims Against Iraq, in The United Nations Compensation Commission, supra note 2, at 15, 16.
48 Alzamora, supra note 2, at 8.
49 Claims Processing, supra note 47.
50 Id.
51 Id.
52 Resolution 705, 30 Int’l L. Materials 1703, 1715, ¶ 2 (1991).
53 UN Security Council Resolution 986 (1995), 35 Int’l L. Materials 1144, 1144 (1996). Resolution 986 came four years after Resolution 687, the cease-fire, but governed the first oil sales by Iraq since the conflict ended. Id.
54 See Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 93 tbl.5.3.
55 See id.
56 William E. Huth, The Iraq Claims Tribunal: An Overview of the U.N. Compensation Commission, 54 Disp. Resol. J., May 1999, at 25, 83.
57 Id.
58 Raad Alkadiri, Iraq Under Sanctions: Diminishing Returns, in Oil and Regional Developments in the Gulf supra note 27, at 91, 97.
59 Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 161.
60 Id.; Introduction, in UNCC, supra note 7. Resolutions 705 and 706 were adopted on the same day, August 15, 1991. Introduction, supra.
61 Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 161.
62 Id.
63 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 99; see also Resolution 687, supra note 1, 851, ¶¶ 12, 13.
64 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 99; see also Resolution 687, supra note 1, ¶ 22.
65 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 103.
66 Introduction, supra note 60; David D. Caron, Introductory Note to United Nations Compensation Commission: Report with Decisions of the Governing Council, 31 Int’l L. Materials 1009, 1010 (1992) (discussing Resolution 778).
67 Caron, supra note 66, at 1010.
68 Lea Carol Owen, Note, Between Iraq and a Hard Place: The U.N. Compensation Commission and its Treatment of Gulf War Claims, 31 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 499, 529 (1998).
69 Payment Procedure, in UNCC, supra note 7.
70 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 97.
71 Id.
72 Id.
73 Id.
74 Id.
75 Payment Procedure, supra note 69.
76 Id.
77 The Claims, supra note 7. Although the claims are those of individuals, entities, and governments, all of the claims were filed by governments on behalf of those within their jurisdictions, as mandated by the UNCC. Alzamora, supra note 2, at 8.
78 Claims Processing, supra note 47.
79 Id.
80 Status of Claims Processing, in UNCC, supra note 7.
81 Category “A” Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7.
82 Id.
83 Category “B” Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7.
84 Id.
85 Category “C” Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7.
86 Id.
87 Id.
88 Status of Claims Processing, supra note 80.
89 Category “D” Claims, supra note 7.
90 Id.
91 Status of Claims Processing, supra note 80.
92 Category “E” Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7. Category E claims include oil sector claims (E1), claims of Kuwaiti corporations unrelated to oil (E4), claims of non-Kuwaiti corporations relating to construction and engineering but not relating to oil (E3), and an “other” subcategory (E2). Id.
93 Id.
94 Category “F” Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7.
95 Id.
96 Id. Category F claims are divided into four categories: F4 for damage to the environment, F3 for damage to the Kuwaiti government (includes damage to property and contract losses), F2 for damage to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and F1 for all other government claims related to the evacuation of citizens and damage to property. Id. There is also an E/F Category covering export guarantee and insurance claims. Id.
97 Status of Claims Processing, supra note 80.
98 Id.
99 Id.
100 See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113–15 (discussing possible precedential value of Resolution 687).
101 Id.
102 Id. at 113 n.45. The amendment said, “the circumstances [of the Persian Gulf War are] unique, requiring unprecedented actions ‘which do not set undue precedents.’” Id.
103 See King, supra note 33, at A1.
104 See U.N. Charter arts. 39-51.
105 See King, supra note 33, at A1.
106 See generally, Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
107 See Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
108 See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
109 King, supra note 33, at A1.
110 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
111 King, supra note 33, at A1.
112 Id.
113 See id. A delegation from Rwanda visited, as well, and received the same prognosis. Id.
114 Gross domestic product is the total market value of all goods and services produced in a country by the factors of production located in that country, regardless of who owns the factors of production. Karl E. Case & Ray C. Fair, Principles of Economics 613 (1992). Factors of production are land, labor, and capital. Id. at 71. Gross national product, in contrast, is the total market value of all goods and services produced in a country by the factors of production owned by a country’s citizens. Id. at 611.
115 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
116 Per capita GDP is GDP divided by the country’s population. Case & Fair, supra note 114, at 627.
117 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
118 Id.
119 Id.
120 Cohen, supra note 15, at 27.
121 See id.
122 The Economist Intelligence Unit, Iraq: Country Profile 1992–93, at 20 (1992) [hereinafter EIU].
123 Id. at 9.
124 Gad G. Gilbar, The Middle Eastern Oil Decade and Beyond 1 (1997). The oil producing countries that experienced the greatest wealth during these times were Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates. Id. at 3.
125 Id. at 1.
126 See EIU, supra note 122, at 20.
127 Id. In addition, the country is rich in natural gas. Id. In 1990, Iraq’s gas reserves accounted for 2.4% of the total world reserves. Id.
128 Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 93 tbl.5.3.
129 EIU, supra note 122, at 13.
130 Id. at 20; Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 92.
131 The Stationary Office, Whitaker’s Almanac 2000, at 909 (2000).
132 See King, supra note 33, at A1.
133 See generally, Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
134 See Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 95.
135 See Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 161.
136 Id.
137 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 91.
138 Id. at 92–95.
139 Id. at 93.
140 Id. at 93.
141 Id. at 96.
142 Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 95.
143 Id. at 97.
144 Id.
145 See generally Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
146 Id.
147 World Almanac Books, The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000, at 1070 (2000).
148 Id.
149 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 84.
150 See Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 97.
151 See id.
152 See Mary Ann Tetreault, The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Economics of the New World Order 142 (1995); see generally Roger P. Alford, Well Blowout Control Claim, 92 Am. J. Int’l L. 287 (1998).
153 Tetreault, supra note 152, at 142.
154 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
155 See id.
156 UN Security Council Resolution 986, supra note 53.
157 See id.
158 See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 155.
159 See id.
160 See id.
161 Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 12. The Iraq National Oil company was created in 1964. Id.
162 Id.
163 See generally Resolution 687, supra note 1.
164 Until the 1960’s, private multi-national oil companies owned a portion of the oil and production capacity in Iraq. See Alnasrawi, supra note 26, at 12. Iraq, however, made a concentrated effort to free the oil wealth from foreign and private control and, in 1967, the Iraq National Oil Company was granted the exclusive right to exploit the country’s oil resources. Id.
165 U.N. Charter art. 41.
166 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113.
167 Id. at 106.
168 Gordon A. Christenson, State Responsibility and the UN Compensation Commission: Compensating Victims of Crimes of State, in The United Nations Compensation Commission, supra note 2, at 311, 311–12.
169 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 113.
170 U.N. Charter arts. 39–51.
171 Christenson, supra note 168, at 312.
172 Kirgis, supra note 4, at 114 (suggesting it would be a “short step” to the imposition of a UNCC for Yugoslavia).
173 Id.
174 See id.; see generally U.N. Charter arts. 39–51.
175 See generally U.N. Charter arts. 39–51.
176 See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 106.
177 See id.
178 See Christenson, supra note 168, at 322.
179 See U.N. Charter arts. 39–51.
180 See id.
181 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 324.
182 Id.
183 U.N. Charter art. 41.
184 Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, supra note 9, at 325.
185 Id.
186 John F. Murphy, Civil Liability for the Commission of International Crimes as an Alternative to Criminal Prosecution, 12 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 1, 15–16 (1999).
187 See id. at 28–29.
188 Russell J. Weintraub, Establishing Incredible Events by Credible Evidence: Civil Suits for Atrocities that Violate International Law, 62 Brook. L. Rev. 753, 755 (1996).
189 Id. at 753–54.
190 Murphy, supra note 186, at 28.
191 Id.
192 See generally Resolution 687, supra note 1; Alzamora, supra note 2.
193 See generally Resolution 687, supra note 1.
194 See generally Murphy, supra note 186; Weintraub, supra note 188.
195 See Bahree, supra note 32, at A13.
196 U.N. Charter art. 39.
197 Bahree, supra note 32, at A13.
198 Id.
199 See id.
200 See id.
201 See Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
202 See id.
203 See Cohen, supra note 15, at 27.
204 See generally Kirgis, supra note 4, at 115.
205 See generally The Claims, in UNCC, supra note 7.
206 See generally Alkadiri, supra note 58, at 97.