United Nations Security Council resolution 1483, adopted on 22 May 2003, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation between

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, the Council lifted trade sanctions against Iraq (excluding an

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

) and terminated the

Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP) was established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary I ...

. The resolution was drafted by the United States and co-sponsored by Spain and the United Kingdom; it was approved by 14 of 15 Security Council members as

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

did not participate in the voting.

Resolution

Observations

The Security Council reaffirmed the importance of the

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

Iraqi weapons of mass destruction Iraq actively researched weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and used chemical weapons from 1962 to 1991, after which it destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile and halted its biological and nuclear weapon programs as required by the United Nation ...

and the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own political future and control of their

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

s. It encouraged efforts to form a representative government to afford equal rights and justice to all Iraqi citizens, and recalled Resolution 1325 (2000) on women to that effect. Furthermore, the Council determined that the United Nations should play a vital role in

humanitarian relief Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian a ...

and reconstruction efforts and the development of institutions in Iraq. It welcomed the resumption of humanitarian efforts and the appointment of a Special Adviser by the Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

. Meanwhile, the preamble of the resolution affirmed the need for accountability for the crimes committed by the previous Iraqi regime under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

and respect for Iraqi heritage. The Council recognised the responsibilities and obligations of the United Kingdom and United States as occupying powers and of other states that were not occupying powers as working under their command. It welcomed the commitment of Member States towards the stability of Iraq, remained concerned about the fate of Kuwaiti and third-state nationals unaccounted for since 2 August 1990 (the day Iraq invaded Kuwait) and determined that the situation in Iraq remained a threat to international peace and security.

Acts

The resolution, adopted 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 a ...

, resolved many of the legal and governmental ambiguities that resulted from the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and U.K.-led "

coalition of the willing A ''coalition of the willing'' is a temporary international partnership created for the purpose of achieving a particular objective, usually of military or political nature. Origin The term was coined in the early 1970s by MIT professor Linco ...

". Its three most important features are that it recognized the US-UK coalition's responsibilities under applicable international law as occupying powers; recognised the creation of a transitional governing council of Iraqis; and removed all

sanctions against Iraq A sanction may be either a permission or a restriction, depending upon context, as the word is an auto-antonym. Examples of sanctions include: Government and law * Sanctions (law), penalties imposed by courts * Economic sanctions, typically a b ...

that were placed upon the former regime of Saddam Hussein under resolutions

661 Year 661 ( DCLXI) was a common year starting on Friday 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 prevalent method in Europe for naming ...

(1991),

778 __NOTOC__ Year 778 ( DCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 778th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 778th year of the 1st millennium, the 78th year of the 8th century, ...

(1992) and others. Additionally, it terminated the Oil-for-Food Programme. The resolution transferred the authority to authorize expenditures from

's oil revenue from the United Nations to a

Development Fund for Iraq In May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq in March of that year, the Central Bank of Iraq-Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) account was created at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) ...

, controlled by the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

, on 23 May 2003. It also created an international body to monitor the Coalition's expenditures from Iraq's oil revenue, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB). The Coalition's authority to expend Iraq's oil revenue was conditional. The Coalition was only authorized to expend those funds for the benefit of the Iraqi people. Those expenditures were only authorized if they were made in an open and transparent manner. The Coalition was only authorized to expend funds so long as they cooperated in the IAMB's oversight of those expenditures, and the Coalition was charged with the obligation to make those expenditures with meaningful Iraqi input. The Oil-for-Food Program's remaining funds of $10 billion were transferred over a 6-month winding-up period to the Development Fund for Iraq, representing 14% of the program's total income over 5 years. The Coalition was widely criticized for failing to implement adequate financial controls; with failing to make expenditures from the Development Fund for Iraq in an open and transparent manner.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2003 1483 1483 Iraq and weapons of mass destruction 2003 in Iraq May 2003 in Iraq Sanctions against Iraq United Nations Oil-for-Food scandal 1483

Resolution

Observations

Acts

See also

References

External links