UN expert group meets Asian states to discuss private military and security companies

26 October 2009

 

GENEVA -- Representatives of states from Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East will convene on 26 and 27 October in Bangkok at the invitation of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries to discuss current practices of mercenaries and private military and security companies registered, operating or recruiting personnel in the region.

 

State representatives will also discuss legislation or other measures to regulate and monitor the activities of private military and security companies on the international market.

 

“The exchange of best practices and lessons learned on the monitoring and regulation of the activities of private military and security companies is of key importance,” said Shaista Shameem, Chairperson/Rapporteur of the Working Group.

 

“We will also discuss the consequences of the proliferation of private military and security companies on the role of the State as holder of the monopoly of the legitimate use of force, in particular the State’s ability to continue fulfilling inherently governmental functions in security and military areas”, said Shameem.

 

The Working Group said it “welcomes this opportunity to build on national experience in the region to discuss general guidelines and principles for national and international regulation and oversight of the activities of private companies with the aim of encouraging the protection of human rights.”

 

The Working Group is composed of five independent experts serving in their personal capacities: Ms. Shaista Shameem (Chairperson-Rapporteur, Fiji), Ms. Najat al-Hajjaji (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya), Ms. Amada Benavides de Pérez (Colombia), Mr. José Luis Gómez del Prado (Spain), and Mr. Alexander Nikitin (Russian Federation).

 

The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination was established in 2005 by the Commission on Human Rights.