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Raising the flag on Iraq
reparations
By Haider Rizvi
NEW YORK - The United Nations is being
urged to stop paying billions of dollars in
reparations from Iraq - one of the world's most
indebted countries - to claimants, many of them
from Kuwait, one of the world's richest nations.
The reparations, which are derived from Iraq's oil
revenues, relate to Saddam Hussein's invasion of
that country 15 years ago.
A UN meeting in
Geneva next week will decide which claims for war
reparations relating to the occupation of Kuwait
in 1990-91 are to be paid by Iraq, and in what
amounts.
So far, the UN Compensation
Commission, a body created in 1991 as a subsidiary
organ of the 15-member Security Council, has
awarded compensation of more than US$52 billion to
individuals and businesses who filed claims for
losses during the war.
Despite the ongoing
US-led occupation of Iraq, the commission has
imposed another $33 billion in war reparations
against that country, which are yet to be paid.
The remaining claims imposed on Iraq - and those
yet to be decided - are primarily related to
state-owned oil companies, multinational
corporations and governments.
Under
pressure from the United States and other Western
nations, the UN imposed tough economic sanctions
against Iraq soon after the end of the invasion of
Kuwait. The sanctions continued for about 13
years, until the US invaded Iraq in March 2003.
Realizing the catastrophic effects of the
sanctions on the Iraqi civilian population, the UN
Security Council passed a resolution in April 1994
that established the oil-for-food program to allow
Iraq to purchase humanitarian goods in return for
its oil.
Under the program, the UN set
aside about 25% of Iraq's oil revenues toward war
reparations. However, these payments did not cease
with the end of the oil-for-food program itself.
When the Security Council passed a resolution in
May 2003 to dissolve the program, it still
required that 5% of Iraq's oil revenues be used to
pay reparations.
Those critical of the UN
compensation program are now calling for the world
body to impose an immediate moratorium on all war
payments against Iraq, while demanding measures to
eliminate "odious debts" incurred by Saddam's
regime.
"At what point will the Iraqi
people no longer be penalized for the unjust
act[s] of the Saddam regime?" asked Jubilee Iraq,
a Britain-based charity. It noted that in 1979
when Saddam seized power, Iraq not only had no
long-term debt, but also held $36 billion in cash
reserves.
However, by the eve of the US
invasion, Iraq owed about $125 billion to foreign
creditors, including $42 billion to the so-called
Paris Club of rich nations. Last November the
Paris Club agreed to reduce its claims by 80%, but
not without imposing a number of conditions. Only
30% of the debt forgiveness came with no strings
attached.
Another 30% will only
materialize after Iraq agrees to implement
significant structural changes to its economy. The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made it
clear that in the next three years Iraq must
demonstrate its compliance with the conditions
attached to the final 20% reduction.
As
for Iraq's remaining $83 billion of debt, more
than $67 billion is claimed by countries that are
not part of the Paris Club, and $15 billion is
owed to private creditors.
In response to
the Paris Club's meeting last year, the interim
Iraqi leadership described most of the debt as
"odious", and demanded that it must be reduced by
95%, in addition to an end to war reparations.
This week, both the European Union and the
United States are hosting a meeting in Brussels to
discuss Iraq's debt. The meeting is expected to
draw foreign ministers from 80 nations, including
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan.
For their
part, in order to build pressure on the
Compensation Commission, a number of activists
from the US, Britain, Iraq and other countries are
on their way to Geneva. Some of them have already
started fasting outside the UN offices there to
draw attention to their protests.
"Taking
Iraqi oil revenue and paying companies in Kuwait
is an injustice," said Kathy Kelly of Voices in
the Wilderness. "The people of Iraq have already
suffered so much, from sanctions to bombardment to
occupation."
"The commission has no
legitimacy for one day longer," Hans von Sponeck,
who quit as UN humanitarian coordinator in 2000,
said while joining protesters in Geneva last week.
"It is not a colonial master."
The
commission will begin its three-day meetings next
Tuesday.
(Inter Press Service) |
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