RES/18/4 The use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to selfdetermination

GE.A/HRC/18/32. 1-16612

Human Rights Council Eighteenth session

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,

political, economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council*

18/4 The use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self- determination

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all previous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Human

Rights Council and the Commission on Human Rights on the subject, including Assembly

resolution 64/151 of 18 December 2009 and Council resolutions 10/11 of 26 March 2009,

15/12 of 30 September 2010 and 15/26 of 1 October 2010,

Recalling also all relevant resolutions that, inter alia, condemn any State that permits

or tolerates the recruitment, financing, training, assembly, transit or use of mercenaries with

the objective of overthrowing the Governments of States Members of the United Nations,

especially those of developing countries, or of fighting against national liberation

movements, and recalling further the relevant resolutions and international instruments

adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council,

the African Union and the Organization of African Unity, inter alia, the Organization of

African Unity Convention for the elimination of mercenarism in Africa,

Reaffirming the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations concerning the strict observance of the principles of sovereign equality, political

independence, the territorial integrity of States, the self-determination of peoples, the non-

use of force or threat of use of force in international relations and non-interference in affairs

within the domestic jurisdiction of States,

* The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of

the Council on its eighteenth session (A/HRC/18/2), chap. I.

Reaffirming also that, by virtue of the principle of self-determination, all peoples

have the right to determine freely their political status and to pursue freely their economic,

social and cultural development, and that every State has the duty to respect this right in

accordance with the provisions of the Charter,

Reaffirming further the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning

Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the

United Nations,

Alarmed and concerned about the threat posed by the activities of mercenaries to

peace and security in developing countries in various parts of the world, in particular in

areas of conflict,

Deeply concerned at the loss of life, the substantial damage to property and the

negative effects on the policies and economies of affected countries resulting from

international criminal mercenary activities,

Extremely alarmed and concerned about recent mercenary activities in developing

countries in various parts of the world, in particular in areas of conflict, and the threat they

pose to the integrity of and respect for the constitutional order of the affected countries,

Recalling the holding of regional consultations in all five regions from 2007 to 2010,

in which participants noted that the enjoyment and exercise of human rights were

increasingly impeded by the emergence of several new challenges and trends relating to

mercenaries or their activities and by the role played by private military and security

companies registered, operating or recruiting personnel in each region, and expressing its

appreciation to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for

its support for the holding of those consultations,

Convinced that, notwithstanding the way in which mercenaries or mercenary-related

activities are used or the form they take to acquire a semblance of legitimacy, they are a

threat to peace, security and the self-determination of peoples and an obstacle to the

enjoyment of human rights by peoples,

1. Reaffirms that the use of mercenaries and their recruitment, financing,

protection and training are causes for grave concern to all States and violate the purposes

and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;

2. Recognizes that armed conflicts, terrorism, arms trafficking and covert

operations by third Powers encourage, inter alia, the demand for mercenaries on the global

market;

3. Urges once again all States to take the necessary steps and to exercise the

utmost vigilance against the threat posed by the activities of mercenaries, and to take

legislative measures to ensure that their territories and other territories under their control,

as well as their nationals, are not used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training,

protection and transit of mercenaries for the planning of activities designed to impede the

right to self-determination, to overthrow the Government of any State or to dismember or

impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and

independent States conducting themselves in compliance with the right of peoples to self-

determination;

4. Requests all States to exercise the utmost vigilance against any kind of

recruitment, training, hiring or financing of mercenaries by private companies offering

international military consultancy and security services, and to impose a specific ban on

such companies intervening in armed conflicts or actions to destabilize constitutional

regimes;

5. Encourages States that import the military assistance, consultancy and

security services provided by private companies to establish regulatory national

mechanisms for the registering and licensing of those companies in order to ensure that

imported services provided by those private companies neither impede the enjoyment of

human rights nor violate human rights in the recipient country;

6. Emphasizes its utmost concern about the impact of the activities of private

military and security companies on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular when

operating in armed conflicts, and notes that private military and security companies and

their personnel are rarely held accountable for violations of human rights;

7. Calls upon all States that have not yet become parties to the International

Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries to

consider taking the necessary action to do so;

8. Welcomes the cooperation extended by those countries that received a visit by

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, and the adoption by

some States of national legislation that restricts the recruitment, assembly, financing,

training and transit of mercenaries;

9. Invites States to investigate the possibility of mercenary involvement

whenever and wherever criminal acts of a terrorist nature occur;

10. Condemns mercenary activities in developing countries in various parts of the

world, in particular in areas of conflict, and the threat they pose to the integrity of and

respect for the constitutional order of these countries and the exercise of the right to self-

determination of their peoples, and stresses the importance for the Working Group of

looking into sources and root causes, as well as the political motivations of mercenaries and

for mercenary-related activities;

11. Calls upon the international community and all States, in accordance with

their obligations under international law, to cooperate with and assist the judicial

prosecution of those accused of mercenary activities in transparent, open and fair trials;

12. Acknowledges with appreciation the work and contributions made by the

Working Group, and takes note of its latest report;1

13. Takes note of the summary of the first session of the open-ended

intergovernmental working group to consider the possibility of elaborating an international

regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of

private military and security companies, and expresses satisfaction at the participation of

experts, including of the members of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, as

resource persons at the above-mentioned session, and requests the Working Group and

other experts to continue to do so;

14. Recommends that all Member States, including those confronted with the

phenomenon of private military and security companies, as contracting States, States of

operations, home States or States whose nationals are employed to work for a private

military or security company contribute to the work of the open-ended intergovernmental

working group to consider the possibility of elaborating an international regulatory

framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military

and security companies, taking into account the work done by the Working Group on the

use of mercenaries;

15. Requests the Working Group to continue the work already done by previous

mandate holders on the strengthening of the international legal framework for the

prevention and sanction of the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries,

taking into account the proposal for a new legal definition of a mercenary drafted by the

Special Rapporteur in his report submitted to the Commission on Human Rights at its

sixtieth session;See E/CN.4/2004/15.

16. Reiterates its requests to the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights, as a matter of priority, to publicize the adverse effects of

the activities of mercenaries and private companies offering military assistance,

consultancy and other military and security-related services on the international market on

the right of peoples to self-determination and, when requested and where necessary, to

render advisory services to States that are affected by those activities;

17. Requests the Working Group to continue to monitor mercenaries and

mercenary-related activities in all their forms and manifestations, including private military

and security companies, in different parts of the world, including instances of protection

provided by Governments to individuals involved in mercenary activities;

18. Also requests the Working Group to continue to study and identify sources

and causes, emerging issues, manifestations and trends regarding mercenaries or

mercenary-related activities and their impact on human rights, particularly on the right of

peoples to self-determination;

19. Urges all States to cooperate fully with the Working Group in the fulfilment

of its mandate;

20. Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to provide the

Working Group with all the assistance and support necessary for the fulfilment of its

mandate, both professional and financial, including through the promotion of cooperation

between the Working Group and other components of the United Nations system that deal

with countering mercenary-related activities, in order to meet the demands of its current

and future activities;

21. Requests the Working Group to consult States, intergovernmental and non-

governmental organizations and other relevant actors of civil society in the implementation

of the present resolution, and to report its findings on the use of mercenaries as a means of

violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-

determination to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session and to the Human Rights

Council at its twenty-first session;

22. Decides to continue its consideration of this matter under the same agenda

item at its twenty-first session.

35th meeting

29 September 2011

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 31 to 11, with 4 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile,

China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Guatemala, India,

Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Peru,

Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand,

Uganda, Uruguay

Against:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland,

Republic of Moldova, Romania, Spain, United States of America

Abstaining:

Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Switzerland]