CHARITY COMMISSION
News Release (PR 16/07) issued by The Government News Network on 8
June 2007
UNDER STRICT
EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 BST FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2007
The Mariam Appeal received significant donations connected with
improper transactions made under the oil-for-food programme, a
Charity Commission inquiry reported today. In accepting these
funds, the Commission found the trustees were not sufficiently
vigilant and did not properly discharge their legal duties
regarding these donations.
The Mariam Appeal was founded in 1998 to provide medicines,
medical equipment and medical assistance to the people of Iraq and
to arrange for the medical treatment of Iraqi children outside Iraq.
The inquiry, opened in December 2005, sought to ascertain whether
funds resulting from contracts made under the UN oil-for-food
programme were donated to the Appeal; if so, to establish what was
the legal status of those funds; and to examine the extent to
which the trustees of the Appeal properly discharged their duties
and responsibilities in receiving those funds.
The charity trustees knew about the sanctions placed on Iraq and
the UN oil-for-food programme. Given the complex setting within
which the Mariam Appeal had to work, the Commission's view is
that the trustees should have been extremely vigilant in their
acceptance of these donations. The trustees did not make
sufficient enquiries as to the source of the donations, or assess
whether it was proper and in the interests of the appeal to accept them.
The Appeal is not on the central register of charities, has not
operated since early 2003, has no active trustees and holds no
assets requiring the protection of the Commission. Overall, the
Commission is satisfied that the funds received by the charity
were spent on the charity's humanitarian purpose. In these
circumstances, the regulatory action the Commission has taken is
the publication of its findings.
It is important that all charities, and particularly those
working in difficult economic and political environments, ensure
that they follow a robust policy for scrutinising the source of
significant donations.
Three of the former trustees of the Mariam Appeal who responded
to the Commission's questions deny any wrong-doing.
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator for
charitable activity in England and Wales. A copy of the full
inquiry report can be found on our website http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk .
2. This press statement quotes sequentially from paragraphs 47,
43, 46, 2, 15, 43, 49, 4 and 38 of the inquiry report.
3. The trustees of the Appeal who were known to the Commission
were Mr George Galloway MP, Mr Fawaz Zureikat, Dr Aminah
Abu-Zayyad (also referred to at the time as Mrs Galloway), Mr
Sabah Al-Muktar, and Mr Stuart Halford.
4. Mr Fawaz Zureikat and Dr Aminah Abu-Zayyad provided no
response to any communication from the Charity Commission.
5. The Commission has undertaken two previous formal inquiries
under section 8 of the Charities Act 1993. The first two inquiries
established that the Mariam Appeal was charitable by law and
should have registered with the Commission. They also established
that, overall, funds received by the charity were spent on the
charity's humanitarian purpose.
6. The oil-for-food programme for Iraq was established by the UN
and ran from December 1996-March 2003 to enable Iraq to sell its
oil to the world market in the period of sanctions. The rules of
the programme required that oil sale proceeds be paid into a UN
controlled account. The funds in this account were made available
to the then Iraqi Government to be used only for humanitarian aid
and other purposes permitted by the Security Council.
7. In October 2005 reports were published by the Independent
Inquiry Committee appointed by the UN ('the IIC') and
the U.S Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs - Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations (the
'PSI') on the oil-for-food programme. The reports
concluded that, amongst other matters, certain allocations of
contracts in the programme had involved the payment of
"illegal surcharges" to the then Iraqi Government.
Commissions earned by certain individuals (including in this case
Mr Zureikat) on the sale of the oil were connected to these
contracts. As donations to the appeal were made from commissions
derived from the programme, the Commission has concluded that
these donations came from improper sources.