The Biggest Robbery Of The Century
http://www.dailystarnews.com/200012/09/n0120902.htm#BODY4
by Rafiq A Tschannen
Daily Star (Bangladesh), 9th December

DURING the gulf war 1991 the USA has destroyed the water distribution system of Iraq and thereby violated the Geneva war convention. Only recently an American High School teacher submitted a study which proved that the wilful destruction of a whole country was carried out with a strategic calculation. Nearly ten years later the whole population of Iraq continues to pay the price of the stubbornness of the USA and Iraq's leader Saddam Hussain. There is no end in sight in this situation. On the contrary during the US election campaign both candidates were eager to outdo each other in their anti-Iraq feelings. And quietly the robbing of Iraq continues as the work of the UNCC United Nations Compensation Commission shows, an obscure entity, which sucks off one third of all Iraqi export earnings.

The UNCC has existed for the last ten years and remains nearly unknown to the public. But actually this discretely operating institution is one the most important instruments in the destruction strategy against Iraq. The economic sanctions against Iraq are being covered by the media. We see on TV malnourished children and hospitals where the most basic items are missing. We see a whole country and a whole culture being permitted to deteriorate further and further. But hardly any journalist seems to be interested in the work of the UN Compensation Commission and in their doubtful legality and their dubious practices. And this in spite of the fact that since December 1996, 11 billion dollars, approximately one third of the export earnings of Iraq, have flown into the coffers of this commission.

In April 1991, shortly after the defeat of Iraq, the UN security council decided that according to international law Iraq will be liable for all losses, damages.... which other states, individuals, or foreign corporations have had as an immediate result of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait. For the determination of such damages the UN compensation commission was created. The board of this commission is made up of representatives of the 15 members of the UN security council. The executive council, which has been dominated by its US members right from the start, is supposed to inform the commission, although disinform would be the more appropriate term.

The method chosen by the Security Council is without parallel in history at least not since the Versailles Agreement at the end of World War I, which laid the foundation for the Second World War. In article 231 of the Versailles agreement Germany was made to pay. Hitler took advantage of this agreement that went too far. It was easy for him to point out that "enough is enough". The United States had not ratified the Versailles agreement, but today is carrying on in the same way "Iraq will pay!" How will this time?

Iraq is not even recognized as a defendant party". Every petty criminal has the right of defence but the country of Iraq has no say in how and how much the country is bled. Every year 50 million dollars are being deducted from the Iraqi export earnings to finance the activities of the commission. Excellent salaries of the commission members and their travelling arrangements in business class are financed. For the first time in the history of countries since the Second World War a state has absolutely nothing to say about a juristic case that directly relates to it.

Iraq has no right to vote at the UN because it did not pay its dues. At the same time the USA is in arrears for over one billion dollars. Just another small example of the double standards prevailing today. One law for the super power and another law for the rest of the world.

No doubt Iraq does have a duty to provide compensation. But how can a law case be fought and presented without giving the other side a right to present their own case? For instance: The state of Kuwait had presented a claim for 21.6 billion dollars in 1994. Baghdad was given a summary of the claim five years later in 1999. The Iraqi Government was given a dateline of 19th September 2000. Iraq requested permission to use some fund out of the commission's funds actually Iraq's own export earnings! to pay for a legal office to scrutinize all the documents. The commission refused. After a long discussion finally Iraq was given one hour on 14th December 1999 to present its point of view. One hour to treat a 20 billion dollar claim! In spite of Russian and French reservations the compensation was fixed at 15.9 billion dollars.

The UN Secretary General had recommended in 1991 that Iraq "be informed about all claims and to be given the right to present to the commission their point of view." The commission did not follow the Secretary General's directive (or probably thought they could claim to follow him by giving that one hour to Iraq to discuss a multi billion dollar claim...).

The UNCC justifies these practices through the necessity to process hundreds of thousands of claims. In fact 2.6 million claims relate to individuals. These amount to 20 billion dollars, a small part of the total claims of approximately 320 billion dollars. The amount of 15 billion dollars approved for the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation amounts to about the total compensation approved for the 2.6 million individual persons. And it is double of what the Iraq central government was given from December 1996 to July 2000 for food and medicines of 15 million Iraqis.

In the C-category, individual compensation, the US citizen Michael F. Raboin is the key figure. He brought along another American Norbert Wuhler. This team is of course highly biased. Staff members were shocked to continuously hear such instructions as the criteria should be interpreted in such a way that maximum approvals can be given, and doctoring the samples. It was made easy by the fact that most persons could not provide proof of their claims and as such mere statements of claimants were considered sufficient.

Even more scandalous was the direct intervention of the US government to the executives of the commission to reinterpret the parameters in which the commission works. The practices of Washington remind one of the work of the UN special commission for the destruction of arms which were infiltrated by the CIA and totally manipulated by them (UNSCOM).

The largest claims are still under consideration. As at 16th June 2000 a total amount of 267 billion dollars in claims was still outstanding. A large number of them are totally absurd and might well be rejected. Friends of the USA, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Israel, are receiving preferential treatment. A good example how the commission works may be given in these instances: Many Israeli shops and businesses were compensated for lack of business during the war as for instance they were able to sell less flowers or less cinema tickets due to the political tensions of the Gulf war. Who would have got the idea that Great Britain could have claimed from Germany compensation for cinema tickets not sold during the Battle of Britain from 1939 to 1945?

The total value of claims amounts to 320 billion dollars. Out of this amount 180 billion are claimed by Kuwait, that is 9-fold of the gross national product of Kuwait for 1989. Considering that for these claims one third of the export earnings of Iraq is being confiscated it would mean that Iraq might have paid off these claims by the year 2060. What will be left of the hospitals and schools by then?

Is it justified to make a country pay without regard to its ability? In article 14 of the peace agreement between Japan and the United States dated 1951 it is stated: Japan must pay reparations to the allied powers for all damages occurred during the war. We however note that the resources of Japan and the economy will not be sufficient to pay for all such claims... and at the same time meet all their other obligations. It may be reminded that at that time the Japanese Emperor was also considered a war criminal just like now Saddam Hussain. UN resolution 687 does specially state that the requirements of the Iraqi people and the possibility to pay should be considered.

Many jurists deny that the UN Security Council has the right to fix the amount of a compensation. In several cases the Israeli attack on the airport-of-Beirut in 1968, the Portuguese attack on Guinea in 1970, the South African excursion into Angola in 1976 did the Security Council state that compensation should be made. However for instance in the case of Angola the British Ambassador stated that The Security Council is not a court, and therefore not the right place to decide about compensation claims.

Shortly after the UNCC meeting of 28th September 2000 the Security Council decided to slightly amend the more scandalous points of the rules. As from December of this year the quota of the export earnings that will be confiscated by the commission will reduce from 30 to 25 pre cent. Furthermore, the commission should consider the interest of Iraq a bit more. As a compensation to this improvement France and Russia agreed to the claim of 15.9 billion dollars, which is mostly going into the coffers of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. A deal which proves once more that it is the United States that plays the tune in the commission.

The above mentioned actions of a UN commission bear ill for all other UN activities. How can we believe that other UN agencies have the welfare of the people as a whole at heart when the same UN permits itself to be manipulated in this way?