PASMUN 2017
HRC
(Human Rights Council)
Topic: Consequences of the Iraqi Occupation and
Aggression Against Kuwait
Director: Carolina Millán Álvarez
Moderator: Iliana Fascilla Ramé
1 PASMUN 2017
INTRODUCTION
Iraq and Kuwait being neighboring countries have led to conflicts
throughout history of which consequences are still seen today. As these
countries were once considered as a whole, today they are separate nations with
lasting fear. Present day Kuwaiti’s believe that Saddam Hussein could invade at
any moment. Like Abdul Hameed al-Attar mentioned “If the United States and
the British and our other friends...withdraw their soldiers,” he said, “surely
Saddam Hussain will come again”13. The Gulf War, taking place in 1990 still is
present in certain ways and it has affected in economical, social and political
matters.
The conflict was partly due to Iraqi’s urgency to find a solution to
their increasing economic crisis from the Iraqi-Iran war. However, after the 7month occupation of Kuwait, Iraqi was left with an even larger debt, including a
$21 billion sum owed to Kuwait 6. Moreover, the Security Council imposed a
worldwide trade ban when the Iraqi government refused to retreat from Kuwait,
leading to a more critical economic situation.10 The oil industry was also severely
affected, with current repercussions in Kuwait and Iraqi’s economy as revenues
were lost and oil prices led to annual budget deficits.2
The war lasting only 7 months terrorized the population causing a
big number of citizens to migrate to Saudi Arabia. However, those who stayed
lacked from primary food supplies such as water and medical care. Prisoners of
the Gulf War lived under very harsh conditions and today there is still some hope
for the survival of a few prisoners. This uncertainness is due to the Iraqi, as “The
Iraqi government objects to the presence of U.S. and British representatives on
the commission and has also accused Kuwait of refusing to furnish details on the
fate of 1,150 Iraqis it says have been missing since 1991”.13
Kuwait was used for a short amount of time as a military base and the high
levels of pollutants that were released during that time are now affecting society.
Many diseases have been diagnosed in Kuwait due to the contamination of the
war and it has caused as well many deaths. On the other hand, political
relationships between the neighboring countries have yet to improve, as Iraq is
still in debt with Kuwait. Also, the United Nations has yet to eliminate the
sanctions imposed on both countries because as a result, trading
interconnections with other nations are to this day limited. The Iraqi occupation
of Kuwait being one of the most one-sided conflicts of history has led to a great
deal of resentment and inconsistency of information from both sides of the
conflict.
2 PASMUN 2017
HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait with more than 100,000 troops in the
morning of August 2, 1990 and by the sixth month Iraq had complete control
over Kuwait making it one of the most one-sided military conflict in history. The
UN issued resolution 660 that same day, requiring Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait,
however Hussein refused to do so. Therefore, resolution 678 was issued, which
allowed the use of force to end the occupation. Operation Desert Storm began
in January and lasted 43 days, where United States targeted Iraqi forces and Iraq
responded by launching missiles in Saudi Arabia and Israel, where their military
barracks were situated. Media was censored and freedom of expression and
assembly was strictly limited during the occupation. On the other hand, civilians
could not carry out daily activities properly because Iraqi infrastructure was
destructed, disrupting supply of electricity.
During the Iraqi occupation Kuwaiti resistance led to more violence, there
was appropriation of Kuwaiti public property; summary executions, arrests,
torture, disappearances and a vast amount of innocents were detained. In
March, Kuwaitis were able to return to their country through an uprising,
however a significant amount is still unaccounted for. 25,000 soldiers died and
75,000 were wounded. Approximately 100,000 Iraqi civilians died from lack of
water, food, and supplies or from wounds. Prisoners were subjected to torture
and their captivity was extended for longer periods of time as a result of both
countries’ inconsistency of information. Iraq failed to account for those detained
to the ICRC and Kuwait failed to allow the reentry of Bedoons (of Iraqi origin with
no legitimate residence). Moreover, the places of detention had substandard
living conditions, with lack of food and medical care.
Refugees faced difficulties for leaving; 1,800,000 people fled their country
seeking protection. Those who fled had to obtain an exit visa, have enough
money to do so and had to travel through a frequently bombarded exit route. As
a result of this, fleeing was an almost impossible solution and even when they
did, conditions in refugee camps were severely harsh which lead to several
deaths as well.
The United States intervened in the conflict and in April 11, 1991
the UN announced an end to the war. However, the consequences in Kuwait and
Iraq prevailed. Following the occupation, Iraqi civilians rebelled against the
government creating uprisings in 5 major cities. These uprisings led to many
3 PASMUN 2017
social, political and economical consequences that would affect the country for
years to come. In Kuwait, the government took unlawful measures that included
torture, murder, deportation and arbitrary detention to root out those who
collaborated with the Iraqi occupiers. The situation in Kuwait has not improved
since.
CURRENT SITUATION
More than 20 years have passed since the Persian Gulf War and both Kuwait and
Iraq have not been able to recover from such event. Today, Kuwait is a country in
which its people still live with the fear of another Iraqi invasion, becoming an
apprehensive nation. Mass media in Kuwait is considered relatively independent
as “Kuwaitis are the most digitally connected in the region but the authorities
monitor internet communications and block content deemed immoral or
politically insensitive”.9 As for the oil industry, Kuwait is a rich oil country in which
lately the government has decided to increase fuel prices up to an 80 percent.
“The Kuwaiti government has historically subsidized oil prices in order to market
its products as economical” 3 and the increase in electricity and water is billed to
foreigners, which take up 3 million people of the population. Tension is still
present in Kuwait, as there is still an uncertainty of the current situation of the 60
prisoners in Iraq. Apart from all of this, Kuwait has been able to industrialize and
become a country in which many want to stay or visit.
As for Iraq, the war led them to a debt that has still not been paid and
“since 1990, Iraq's gross domestic product has shrunk an average of 35 percent
each year”14 until 1997. Iraq's relation with the U.S. worsened after the gulf war,
causing tensions that are still seen today. Iraq is in a constant warfare causing
society in general to be in a bad situation. Many Iraqis live in poverty about 20%
and many deaths are caused by diseases and malnutrition. “In the past decade,
Iraqis have made some progress in building their government—approving a
constitution to replace that of the Saddam Hussein era, and holding successive
elections for parliament and provincial governments. Still, governing institutions
remain weak, and corruption and poverty endemic”15. In the last years Iraq has
been able to exploit their oil, having control of 20% of the world's oil reserves.
The Gulf War not only caused the deaths of many innocent people but it
also created friction among neighboring countries. Even when Iraq’s debt has
not been payed to Kuwait, both countries have reached an agreement to the
payment. “Major powers at the U.N. Compensation Commission (UNCC) came
to a consensus in allowing Iraq to postpone its final payment of reparations to
4 PASMUN 2017
Kuwait for the 1990-91 Gulf War. This means Iraq will have until January 2016 to
begin paying its oil-rich neighbor the remaining $4.6 billion for oil fields
destroyed during its invasion and subsequent seven-month occupation”12. It has
been seen that things between this two countries are possibly to get better but
there are still external factors that have not improved towards the relationship.
UN ACTIONS
When Iraqi first occupied Kuwait, Resolution 660 was issued which condemned the
invasion and demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal of its forces, however Iraqi forces did not
withdraw from the war. Therefore, Resolution 678 was issued and authorized all Member States
cooperating with Kuwait’s government to use “all necessary means” to compel Iraq to fully
implement all of the Council’s resolutions and restore international peace and security.
By February 1991, Iraqi forces had disoccupied Kuwait and in order to ensure that the
resolution’s provisions were fulfilled, Resolution 687 set conditions for a formal ceasefire to end
the conflict and established the machinery to do so. However, the ceasefire became a formal one
once the resolution’s provisions were accepted.
As a result of Resolution 689, after the conflict had resumed, UNIKOM was established in
order to prevent any violation to the agreement. The U.N implemented certain measures to Iraq’s
trading policies as a result of their actions during the conflict; Resolution 706 authorized Iraq to
“sell only $1.6 billion of oil over a six-month period, with $933.7 million of the proceeds
20
designated for the purchase of food, medicine and other essential civilian items.”
Then, Resolution 806 extended UNIKOM tasks to: “(a) small-scale violations of the DMZ; (b)
violations of the boundary between Iraq and Kuwait, for example by civilians or police; and (c)
problems that might arise from the presence of Iraqi installations and Iraqi citizens and their
20
assets in the DMZ on the Kuwaiti side of the newly demarcated boundary” Lastly, resolution
1490 was issued in 2003 once UNIKOM had accomplished “the tasks mandated by the Security
Council” and the mission was closed on October 6th.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
1. Send UN diplomats to reach official agreements between Iraq and Kuwait
to end with the possibility of another intervention.
2. Create laws for the protection of human rights between the countries and
to have a certain number of officials in charge of making these laws take
place.
3. To account all the territory taken away from Kuwait and the debts owed to
establish an official document in which all that was taken away by Iraq will
be returned.
4. Allow the UN Peacekeepers to grant certain protection to Kuwait from Iran
until all issues are settled.
5 PASMUN 2017
REFERENCES
1. Ad. “Impacts of Iraq-Kuwait conflict”. relivehistory, 3 May 2011. Web. 3
July 2016.
2. Al-Harami, Kamel. “Kuwait oil at $40 a barrel … what’s next for the
economy? – Time running out of govt to ‘improvise’”. Arab Times Kuwait, 8
May 2016. Web. 3 July 2016.
3. Calcuttawala, Zainab. “Kuwait to increase fuel prices by up to 80 percent
in September”. Oil price.com, 1 August 2016. Web. 17 September 2017.
4. Chulov, Martin. “Gulf war, 20 years on: Kuwait emerges from under Iraq's
shadow”. The Guardian, 16 January 2011. Web. 3 July 2016.
5. “Iraq and Occupied Kuwait”. Human Rights Watch, 2016. Web. 3 July
2016.
6. “Iraqi Debt to Kuwait May Become Fruitful Business Partnership”. AlMonitor, 2016. Web. 28 August 2016.
7. “KSE holds forum on challenges facing Kuwait’s economic reforms”.
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), 24 May 2016. Web. 3 July 2016.
8. “Kuwait”. Human Rights Watch, 2016. Web. 3 July 2016.
9. “Kuwait country profile”. BBC News, 3 November 2015. Web. 17
September 2016.
10. Lewis, Paul. “THE IRAQI INVASION; U.N. Expected to Approve Iraq and
Kuwait Trade Ban”. International New York Times, 6 August 1990. Web. 3
July 2016.
11. Miller, Judith. “The World; Displaced in the Gulf War: 5 Million Refugees”.
International New York Times, 16 June 1991. Web. 3 July 2016.
12. Naar, Ismaeel. “25 years on, Iraq’s Kuwait invasion remains a source of
bitterness”. Arabiya Network, 2 August 2015. Web. 17 September 2016.
13. North, Andrew. “Ten Years After Iraq’s Invasion, Kuwait’s Prosperity
Tempered by Lingering Memories of Its Trauma”. Washington Report on
Middle East Affairs, October/November 2000. Web. 4 August 2016.
14. “Reconstruction after the Persian Gulf War”. U.S. Library of Congress, n.d.
Web. 17 September 2016.
15. Saletan, William and Foer, Franklin. “Iraq since the Gulf War”. Slate, 16
November 1997. Web. 17 September 2016.
16. “The current situation in Iraq”. United States Institute of Peace, 18 July
2016. Web. 17 September 2016.
17. “The Gulf War and its consequences”. Gulf Art Guide, n.d. Web. 3 July
2016.
18. “The Persian Gulf: The Situation of Foreign Workers”. United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, 2016. Web. 3 July 2016.
6 PASMUN 2017
19. Trainor, Pipes, and Rodman. “The Impact of the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait:
The View from Ten Years Later”. The Washington Institute for Near East
Policy, 3 August 2000. Web. 3 July 2016.
20. “United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission”. United Nations, 2003.
Web. 3 July 2016.
21. Why did Iraq invade Kuwait?”. Quora, n.d. Web. 3 July 2016.
7