United Nations Security Council Resolution 706 – Iraq-Kuwait
Resolution 706 (1991) of 15 August 1991
The Security Council,
Recalling its previous relevant resolutions and in particular resolutions 661 (1990) of6 August 1990, 686 (1991) of2 March 1991, 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991, 688 (1991) of 5 April 1991, 692 (1991) of20 May 1991, 699 (1991) of 17 June 1991 and 705 (1991) of 15 August 1991,
Taking note of the report dated 15 July 1991 of the inter-agency mission headed by the executive Delegate of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Inter-Agency Humanitarian Programme for Iraq, Kuwait and the Iraq/turkey and Iraq/Iran border areas,
Concerned by the serious nutritional and health situation of the Iraqi civilian population as described in the report and by the risk of a further deterioration of this situation,
Concerned also that the repatriation or return of ail Kuwaitis and third- State nationals or their remains present in Iraq on or after 2 August 1990, pursuant to paragraph 2 (c) of resolution 686 (1991) arid paragraphs 30 and 31 of resolution 687 (1991), has not yet heen fully carried out,
Taking note of the conclusions of the above-mentioned report, and in particular of the proposal for oil sales by Iraq to finance the purchase of foodstuffs, medicines and materials and supplies for essential civili:m needs for the purpose of providing humanitarian relief, Taking note also of the letters dated 14 April, 31 May. 6 June, 9 July and 22 July 1991 from the Minister for Foreign Affairs oflraq and the Permanent Representative of lraq to the United Nations to the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait, in regard to the export by Iraq of petroleum and petroleum products, Convinced of the need to ensure equitable distribution of humanitarian relief assistance to ail segments of the lraqi civilian population through effective monitoring and transparency of the process,
Recalling and reaffirming in this regard its resolution 688 (1991), and in particular the importance which the Council attaches to Iraq’s allowing unhindered access by international humanitarian organizations to ail those in need of assistance in ait parts of Iraq and making available all necessary facilities for their operation, and in this connection stressing the continuing importance of the Memorandum Of Understanding between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq signed on 18 April 1991,
Recalling that, pursuant to resolutions 687 (1991), 692 (1991) and 699 (1991), Iraq is required to pay the full costs of the Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency in carrying out the tasks authorized by section C of resolution 687 (1991), and that the Secretary-General, in the report of 15 July 1991 that he submitted to the Council pursuant to paragraph 4 of resolution 699 (1991),92 expressed the view that the most obvious way of obtaining financial resources from Iraq to meet those costs would be to authorize the sale of some Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products; recalling also that Iraq is required to pay its contributions to the United Nations Compensation Fund and half the costs of the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission; and recalling further that, in its resolutions 686 (1991) and 687 (1991), the Council demanded that Iraq return in the shortest possible time ail Kuwaiti property seized by it and requested the Secretary-General to take steps to facilitate this demand,
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
- Authorizes all States, sub_iect to the decision to be taken by the Security Council pursuant to paragraph 5 and notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 3 (a), 3 (b) and 4 of resolution 661 (1990), to permit, for the purposes specified in the present resolution, the import, during a period of six months from the date of adoption of the resolution pursuant to paragraph 5, of a quantity of petroleum and petroleum products originating in Iraq sufficient to produce a sum to be determined by the Council following receipt of the report of the Secretary-General requested in paragraph 5, a sum, however, not to exceed 1.6 billion United States dollars, subject to the following conditions:(a) Approval of each purchase of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products by the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait, following notification to the Committee by the State concerned;
(b) Direct payment of the full amount of each purchase of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products by the purchaser in the State concerned into an escrow account to be established by the United Nations and administered by the Secretary-General exclusively to meet the purposes of this resolution;
(c) Approval by the Council, following the report of the Secretary-General requested in paragraph 5, of a scheme for the purchase of foodstuffs, medicines and materials and supplies for essential civilian needs as referred to in paragraph 20 of resolution 687 (1991), in particular health related materials, all of which to be labelled to the extent possible as being supplied under this scheme, and for all feasible and appropriate United Nations monitoring and supervision for the purpose of assuring their equitable distribution to meet humanitarian needs in all regions of Iraq and to all categories of the Iraqi civilian population, as well as all feasible and appropriate management relevant to this purpose, such a United Nations role to be available if desired for humanitarian assistance from other sources;
(d) The total sum of purchases authorized in the present paragraph is to be released by successive decisions of the Committee in three equal portions after the Council has taken the decision provided for in paragraph 5 on the implementation of the present resolution; notwithstanding any other provision of the present paragraph, the Council may review the maximum total sum of purchases on the basis of an ongoing assessment of the needs and requirements;
2. Decides that a part of the sum in the account administered by the Secretary-General shall be made available to him to finance the purchase of foodstuffs, medicines and materials and supplies for essential civilian needs, as referred to in paragraph 20 of resolution 687 (1991), and to cover the cost to the United Nations of its activities under the present resolution and of other necessary humanitarian activities in Iraq;
3. Decides also that a part of the sum deposited in the account administered by the Secretary-General shall be used by him for appropriate payments to the United Nations Compensation Fund and to cover the full costs of carrying out the tasks authorized by section C of resolution 687 (1991), the full costs incurred by the United Nations in facilitating the return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq, and half the costs of the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission;
4. Decides further that the percentage of the value of exports of petroleum and petroleum products from Iraq authorized under the present resolution to be paid to the Compensation Fund, as called for in paragraph 19 of resolution 687 (1991) and as defined in paragraph 6 of resolution 692 (1991), shall be the same as the percentage decided by the Council in paragraph 2 of resolution 705 (1991) for payments to the Fund, until such time as the Governing Council of the Fund decides otherwise:
5. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Council, within twenty days of the date of adoption of the present resolution, a report suggesting decisions to be taken on measures to implement paragraphs 1 (a), (b) and (c), on estimates of the humanitarian requirements of Iraq set out in paragraph 2 and on the amount of Iraq’s financial obligations set out in paragraph 3 up to the end of the period of the authorization in paragraph 1, as well as on the method for taking the necessary legal measures to ensure that the purposes of the present resolution are carried out and the method for taking account of the costs of transportation of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products;
6. Also requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, to submit to the Council within twenty days of the date of adoption of the present resolution a report on activities undertaken in accordance with paragraph 31 of resolution 687 (1991) in connection with facilitating the repatriation or return of all Kuwaiti and third-State nationals or their remains present in Iraq on or after 2 August 1990;
7. Calls upon the Government of Iraq to provide to the Secretary-General and appropriate international organizations on the first day of the month immediately following the adoption of the present resolution and on the first day of each month thereafter until further notice, a detailed statement of the gold and foreign currency reserves it holds, whether in Iraq or elsewhere;
8. Calls upon all States to cooperate fully in the implementation of the present resolution;
9. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Adopted at the 3004th meeting by 13 votes to 1 (Cuba) with 1 abstention (Yemen).
