The Claims

The Commission accepted for filing claims of individuals, corporations and Governments, submitted by Governments and international organizations.

The Commission received approximately 2.69 million claims seeking a total of approximately US$352.5 billion in compensation, of which 1.5 million were awarded a total of US$52.4 billion. Nearly one hundred Governments submitted claims for their nationals, corporations and/or themselves. Thirteen offices of three international organizations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), also submitted claims for individuals who were not in a position to have their claims filed by Governments.

The Governing Council identified six categories of claims listed below:

Category "A" claims - fixed sum amount for those that had to leave Kuwait or Iraq during the invasion

Category "B" claims - claims for serious personal injury and/or death of an immediate family member

Category "C" claims - individual claims for less than $100,000 for various losses

Category "D" claims - individual claims for more than $100,000 for various losses

Category "E" claims - claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises

Category "F" claims - claims filed by Governments and international organizations, including those for damages to the environment

Deadlines were established for the filing of the various categories of claims. The deadline of 1 January 1995 was set for the filing of category "A", "B", "C" and "D" claims and 1 January 1996 for the filing of category "E" and "F" claims, with the exception of environmental claims in category "F" which had to be filed before 1 February 1997. After the expiration of these deadlines, the Governing Council, on the basis of certain criteria it established, accepted a number of claims for late-filing from individuals who had not been able to file their claims during the regular filing period.

In 2004, the Governing Council adopted decision 219 (S/AC.26/Dec. 219 (2004) in which it decided that the Council would not consider or accept any further requests for the late filing of claim in any claims' category.

Category A

Category "A" claims were claims submitted by individuals who had to depart from Kuwait or Iraq between the date of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and the date of the cease-fire, 2 March 1991.

Category B

Category "B" claims were claims submitted by individuals who suffered serious personal injury or whose spouse, child or parent died as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait. Compensation for successful claims in this category was set at US$2,500 for individuals and up to US$10,000 for families. The Commission received approximately 6,000 category "B" claims submitted by forty-seven Governments and seven offices of three international organisations, seeking a total of approximately US$20 million in compensation.

Category C

Category "C" claims were individual claims for damages up to US$100,000 each. Category "C" claims included twenty-one different types of losses, including those relating to departure from Kuwait or Iraq; personal injury; mental pain and anguish; loss of personal property; loss of bank accounts, stocks and other securities; loss of income; loss of real property; and individual business losses.

Category D

Category "D" claims were individual claims for damages above US$100,000 each. The types of losses that could be claimed under category "D" was similar to those under category "C", with the most frequent being the loss of personal property; the loss of real property; the loss of income and business-related losses. The Commission received approximately 12,000 category "D" claims submitted by fifty Governments and eight offices of three international organisations, seeking a total of approximately US$16.5 billion in compensation.

Category E

Category "E" claims were claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises. They included claims for: construction or other contract losses; losses from the non-payment for goods or services; losses relating to the destruction or seizure of business assets; loss of profits; and oil sector losses. The Commission received approximately 6,600 category "E" claims submitted by seventy Governments seeking approximately US$79 billion in compensation. The category "E" claims ranged from asserted losses of a few thousand US dollars to those for several billion US dollars.

Category F

Category "F" claims were claims filed by Governments and international organizations for losses incurred in evacuating citizens; providing relief to citizens; damage to diplomatic premises and loss of, and damage to, other government property; and damage to the environment. The Commission received approximately 400 category "F" claims, submitted by forty-three Governments and six international organisations, seeking a total of approximately US$236 billion in compensation.