Conflict & emergencies

COnvention Against Mercenaries Enters into Force

2001-11-08, Issue 41

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/3926

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The Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries of the Commission on Human Rights, Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, has welcomed the entry into force on 20 October 2001 of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.

Nizkor Int. Human Rights Team
Derechos Human Rights
Serpaj Europe
Information
[ii) messages]
02Nov01

i) HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR WELCOMES THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE
CONVENTION AGAINST THE RECRUITMENT, USE, FINANCING AND TRAINING OF
MERCENARIES.

The Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries of the Commission on
Human Rights, Enrique Bernales Ballesteros, has welcomed the entry into
force on 20 October 2001 of the International Convention against the
Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.

The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 4 December 1989.
Twenty-two States have completed the constitutional procedures necessary
to indicate their willingness to be bound by the instrument. Those
States are: Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Cameroon, Costa Rica,
Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Suriname, Togo, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, Uruguay and Uzbekistan. Nine other States have signed the
Convention, but have not yet ratified it. They are: Angola, Congo,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Morocco, Nigeria, Poland,
Romania and Yugoslavia.

'The International Convention confirms the legal nature of the many
resolutions and declarations by the United Nations condemning mercenary
activities and activities linked to mercenaries, states that the
recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries should be
considered as offences of grave concern to all States, and that any
person committing any of these offences should be cited, prosecuted or
extradited', the Special Rapporteur said. 'The entry into force of the
Convention will increase and extend cooperation among States in
eradicating such activities and will promote observance of the purposes
and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations'.

The Special Rapporteur also called on States to ratify the International
Convention without delay. 'The International Convention will make
international cooperation among States in preventing, prosecuting and
punishing these crimes more effective, particularly in these difficult
times in which the international community must take into account the
connection existing between terrorism and mercenary activities, as well
as the participation of mercenaries in criminal acts of a terrorist
nature', he said.

According to Mr. Ballesteros, the Convention reaffirms the purposes and
principles enshrined in Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter of the United
Nations and in the Declaration on Principles of International Law
concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations (General Assembly resolution 2625
(XXV), of 24 October 1970).

[Source: United Nations Press Release - 31Oct01]
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ii) STATEMENT BY SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MERCENARIES BEFORE THE 3RD.
COMMITTEE OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: ROLE OF PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS
MUST BE ANALYSED.

ENRIQUE BERNALES BALLESTEROS, Special Rapporteur on the question of the
use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the
exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, said the mandate
of the Special Rapporteur also included, among other things, armed
conflict, terrorism, covert operations and trafficking in arms. All
States were asked to investigate the use of mercenaries in all criminal
activities in their countries.

He said a visit to El Salvador was still pending, as was a visit to
Panama. Such a visit would allow opinions to be collected and facts to
be gathered that could link the use of mercenaries and terrorism. A
study would also be carried out about the link of private security
firms. There would also be an investigation about the situation in Peru
about activities carried out by the former President. In this case, as
well as in the case of aggressions against Cuba and the situation in
Colombia, the Special Rapporteur observed links between mercenaries and
terrorism, particularly through the illegal trafficking of drugs. There
was a meeting about private security firms which offered people
opportunities to take part in military action. One of the conclusions of
that meeting was that there needed to be a further analysis of the legal
definition of mercenary. Another meeting would probably be held next
year. He said the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting would
likely be helpful for the General Assembly.

He said, as in all the reports, there had been a focus on the use of
mercenaries in Africa. There was no internal conflict or other problem
where mercenaries were not involved. Mercenaries were seen in Angola,
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, among other places. In the western
parts of the countries, which were rich with precious stones and oils,
outside interests, including Mafias, had hired mercenaries to enable
them to get rich from those resources. The General Assembly and the
Security Council had both passed resolutions against that, and those
resolutions needed to be respected to protect the people of the region.

The terrorist attacks of 11 September had proved that there was a need
for a more effective strategy to tackle terrorism. The presence of
mercenaries usually occurred in connection with other criminal
activities, and it would be a mistake to discount the use of mercenaries
in terrorist attacks. Many attacks resulted from a defamation of
religious, cultural or political conflicts. Those people were trained to
destroy, and they were devoid of human sentiment. Mercenaries were
behind many terrorist attacks, and they were often used to assassinate
political leaders. When investigating a terrorist attack, there should
always be an investigation into whether mercenaries were involved. If
the international community wanted to be successful in fighting
terrorism, that should be seriously considered.

[Source: United Nations Press Release - GA/SHC/3650 - Fifty-sixth
General Assembly, Third Committee, 31 October 2001, 26th Meeting (AM)]
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RELATED LINKS:
- International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and
Training of Mercenaries - A/RES/44/34, 72nd plenary meeting, 4 December
1989.
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r034.htm
- Documents on Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on
use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of
peoples to self-determination
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mmer.htm
- The January 2001 Report by the Special Rapporteur on the use of
mercenaries of the Commission on Human Rights is available on:
http://www.unhchr.ch/SearchForm.nsf/SymbolNumberSearchEng?OpenForm
by entering the Document Symbol Number "E/CN.4/2001/19" in the search
box.
- Colombia: Outsourcing War
http://www.public-i.org/story_03a_071201.htm
- DynCorp In Colombia: Outsourcing the Drug War
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/military/featured/2001/dyncorp.html
- Intelligence and Extermination Networks in Barrancabermeja,
Colombia.[SPA/ESP]
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/libros/redes/index.html
- Organization and Operation of Intelligence Networks - Colombian Armed
Forces Directive No. 200-05/91.
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/colombia/doc/directive.htm
- The Office of the High Commissionner for Human Rights report on the HR
situation in Colombia is available on:
http://www.unhchr.ch/SearchForm.nsf/SymbolNumberSearchEng?OpenForm
by entering the Document Symbol Number [ E/CN.4/2001/15 ] in the search
box.
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