United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 was adopted on 3 April 1991. After reaffirming resolutions

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661 Year 661 ( DCLXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 661 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the ...

, 662,

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665 __NOTOC__ Year 665 ( DCLXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 665 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

666 666 may refer to: * 666 (number) * 666 BC, a year * AD 666, a year * The number of the beast, a reference in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Places * 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt * U.S. Route 666, an America ...

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(all 1990) and 686 (1991), the Council set the terms, in a comprehensive resolution, with which

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

was to comply after losing the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Resolution 687 was passed by 12 votes to one (

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) against, with two abstentions from

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, after a very extended meeting. Iraq accepted the provisions of the resolution on 6 April 1991.

Details

Resolution 687, divided into nine sections, firstly urged Iraq and

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

to respect the boundary between the two countries, calling on the Secretary-General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra (; ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as Prime Mini ...

to assist in demarcating the border. It requested the Secretary-General to submit, within one month, a plan for the deployment of the

United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) was established on April 9, 1991 following the Gulf War by Security Council Resolution 689 (1991) and fully deployed by early May 1991. The task of joint military observers was to mon ...

along the

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

which was established to be 10 km into Iraq and 5 km into Kuwait.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

The Council reminded Iraq of its obligations under the

Geneva Protocol The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in ...

and to unconditionally remove and destroy all

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

and

biological weapons A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

and

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

s with a range greater than 150 km. As part of this demand, the Council requested Iraq submit, within 15 days, a report declaring all locations of all the aforementioned weapons and agree to urgent, on-site inspections. It then established the

United Nations Special Commission United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 199 ...

relating to inspections and set provisions for it, and asked Iraq to abide by its obligations under the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

, agreeing not to develop

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s and submitting a report to the Secretary-General and

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

within 15 days. The resolution noted that these actions "represent steps towards the goal of establishing in the Middle East a zone free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery and the objective of a global ban on chemical weapons". After discussing the facilitation of repatriations of

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

and co-operation with the

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, the Council required Iraq to inform the Council that it did not commit to or support terrorism and would not allow such acts to take place in its territory.

Iraq liability for Kuwaiti losses

Resolution 687 then referred to

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

s and compensation, stating Iraq is liable for any loss, damage, and injury inflicted upon Kuwait, further demanding that Iraq hand over any remaining property seized from Kuwait. It also declared

null and void In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means " ...

any statements by Iraq regarding its refusal to repay its foreign debt, and decided to create a fund for these compensation claims (the

United Nations Compensation Commission The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) was created in 1991 as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations Security Council. Its mandate is to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a direct result of Iraq's 19 ...

, officially established in Resolution 692).

Review of sanctions against Iraq

Regarding sanctions, the Council reiterated

international sanctions International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect in ...

against Iraq do not apply to foodstuffs or medical aid to the civilian populations of Iraq and Kuwait, as well as removing sanctions placed on Iraq in Resolution 661 (1990) and decided to review these restrictions every 60 days. However, sales of weapons and other related material to Iraq will continue to be prohibited.

Effects

Upon Iraq's acceptance of all paragraphs of the resolution, a formal ceasefire began between Iraq and Kuwait and Member States co-operating with Kuwait.

Use of resolution for American attacks

The most important part of the resolution was the concluding paragraph 34, which required that "

he Security Council He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

.. cides...to take such further steps as may be required for the implementation of the present resolution and to secure peace and security in the area." This statement was widely interpreted as "obey or we will force you to by all means necessary." This text was used by the United States as a justification for the 1996 bombing of Iraq,

1998 bombing of Iraq The 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 to 19 December 1998, by the United States and the United Kingdom. On 16 December 1998, President of the United States Bill ...

, and the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, on the basis that Iraq refused to comply with various United Nations resolutions, in order to maintain peace and security in the Persian Gulf region.

References

External links

*
Text of Resolution at UN.org
(PDF) {{UNSCR 1991 0687 0687 History of Kuwait 1991 in Kuwait 1991 in Iraq Gulf War Iraq–Kuwait border 0687 United Nations Security Council sanctions regimes April 1991 events Sanctions against Iraq