UN EXPERT MEETING RECOMMENDS CLEARER DEFINITION OF MERCENARIES AND CALLS FOR INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY OF PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES

22 May 2002



A group of international experts has recommended the amendment of the 1989 anti-mercenary convention in order to increase the effectiveness of the legal framework against mercenary activities.

Meeting in Geneva from 13 to 17 May, the experts from government, academia and the human rights community focused on elaborating a clearer legal definition of mercenaries and concluded that steps should be taken to promote regulation and supervision of activities that may not yet be prohibited but that could lead to mercenary activities. They recommended that the UN Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing, and Training of Mercenaries, which came into force in October 2001, be amended to make the prevention and punishment of the activities of mercenaries more efficient.

The nine experts from around the world stressed the need for appropriate national and international legislation to combat the phenomenon and urged consideration of the possibility of establishing a monitoring mechanism that would improve the accountability of private security or military companies. Parameters of state responsibility in this regard should be strengthened, they said.

The meeting was convened by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with General Assembly resolution 56/232. It was chaired by Silvia Fernandez of Argentina. The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of mercenaries, Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, also attended. The International Committee of the Red Cross participated as observer. Kevin Boyle, Special Adviser of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, opened the meeting by stressing the negative impact of mercenary activities on the enjoyment of human rights.

A first meeting, which took place from 29 January to 2 February 2001, surveyed the phenomenon of mercenary activity in several regions of the world. The results of those discussions can be found in UN Document E/CN.4/2001/18.