In United Nations Security Council resolution 661, adopted on 6 August 1990, reaffirming
Resolution 660 (1990) and noting
Iraq's refusal to comply with it and
Kuwait's
right of self-defence
The right of self-defense (also called, when it applies to the defense of another, alter ego defense, defense of others, defense of a third person) is the right for people to use reasonable or defensive force, for the purpose of defending one' ...
, the Council took steps to implement
international sanctions on Iraq under
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military an ...
. This was the second resolution by the Security Council over the
invasion of Kuwait.
The Council therefore decided that states should prevent:
:(a) the import of all products and commodities originating in Iraq or Kuwait;
:(b) any activities by their nationals or in their territories that would promote the export of products originating in Iraq or Kuwait, as well as the transfer of funds to either country for the purposes of such activities;
:(c) the sale of weapons or other military equipment to Iraq and Kuwait, excluding
humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...
;
:(d) the availability of funds or other financial or economic resources to either country, or to any commercial, industrial or public utility operating within them, except for medical or humanitarian purposes.
Resolution 661 called on all member states, including non-members of the United Nations, to act strictly in accordance with the resolution, and decided to establish a Committee of the Security Council consisting of all members of the council, to examine reports by the Secretary-General
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar on the situation and seek information from states on the action they are taking to implement Resolution 661, requesting they all co-operate with the committee.
Finally, the Council stressed that the sanctions regime imposed should not affect assistance given to the legitimate
Government of Kuwait. The resolution was adopted by 13 votes to none, while
Cuba and
Yemen abstained from voting.
After the end of the
Gulf War and the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, the sanctions were linked to removal of
weapons of mass destruction by
Resolution 687 (1991). The effects of government policy and the sanctions regime led to
hyperinflation, widespread poverty and malnutrition.
Joy Gordon: U.S. responsible for human toll of Iraq sanctions
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The 661 Committee
The committee established under the resolution became commonly known as the 661 Committee, or alternatively as the Iraq Sanctions Committee.
Although the initial mandate of the 661 Committee was quite modest, it took on broad responsibilities in the implementation of the sanctions. Joy Gordon, a scholar on the Iraq sanctions wrote:
:The 661 Committee determined what goods Iraq could import as humanitarian exemptions, responded to allegations of smuggling, determined what goods the UN agencies engaged in humanitarian work could bring into Iraq, addressed issues involving the no-fly zones, and took upon itself the task of interpreting Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
Before the Oil-for-Food Programme commenced in 1996, exemptions from the sanctions regime granted by the 661 Committee was the sole legal means for Iraq to import any goods.
See also
* Foreign relations of Iraq
* Gulf War
* Invasion of Kuwait
* Iraq–Kuwait relations
* Iraq sanctions
* List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 601 to 700 (1987–1991)
References
External links
*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
*
{{Gulf War
0661
0661
Gulf War
1990 in Kuwait
1990 in Iraq
United Nations Security Council sanctions regimes
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August 1990 events
Sanctions against Iraq