un working group on mercenaries

In 2019, they openly took part in Hifter's attack on the western Libyan government based in Tripoli. In the years since, the Wagner Group has been suspected of operating in at least 30 countries to further Russian interests, including in Syria, Libya, Venezuela, and the Central African Republic. Presenting its newreportto the Human Rights Council 51st session, the Working Group on the use of mercenaries said that this was due to the particularity of the perpetrators and the way they operate. The thematic section of the report focused on enforced disappearances in the context of transnational transfers. The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries is one of the 39 special proce dures of the UN Human Rights Council.1 It was established in 2005 by resolution 2005/2, of 7 April 2005, by the former UN Commission2 specifically 'to monitor * Member, UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries. Speakers said that the Independent Experts thematic report was comprehensive and presented a serious effort to collect constructive suggestions from diverse meaningful stakeholders. Learn more about the Chair-Rapporteur and the other members of the Working Group, Call for inputs: Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries to be presented to the Human Rights Council during its 54th session, Call for inputs: Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries to be presented to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly October 2023, Mercenarism and private military and security companies (2018). LIVINGSTONE SEWANYANA, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, thanked the delegations speaking in the Council for their strong call for renewed multilateralism. A/HRC/15/25 Page 2 Summary 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 July 2005 This posed a concerning challenge to the concept of security both as a public good and as a State function. Mr. Ravindran Daniel (India) was appointed to the position of Chair-Rapporteur in November 2022. 23 March 2023, 5 October 2020 They also noted with concern the serious reputational implications for humanitarian actors using private military and security companies and the risks they ran if they worked together. Private contractors have not been used in combat roles, but UN reliance on these firms is growing as its personnel become increasingly targeted in zones of conflict. The UN Human Rights Office and the mechanisms we support work on a wide range of human rights topics. The Wagner Group is particularly active in Africa. They concluded by urging States to adopt national legislation to regulate the activities of these actors, punish perpetrators, and provide redress for victims are part of these implementation efforts. UN experts call for war crimes investigation into Wagner mercenaries in Russia-Ukraine updates: Wagner boss orders troops to pull back The involvement of mercenaries in terrorist acts should be reflected in United Nations analysis, follow-up and resolutions on terrorism, as well as in national legislation, according to a report to the General Assembly released today at UN Headquarters in New York. Some speakers were concerned about the way that private military and security companies were engaged in providing responses to health crises, including in the contexts of the Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, risking the securitisation of the health sector in relation to reports of human rights abuses, including the treatment of marginalised groups in detention. Since then the private army has steadily grown. 23 July 2015 The United Nations expert group on the use of mercenaries today convened a discussion at UN Headquarters in New York to address the issue of the increasing activity of foreign. Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. While a licensing regime regulates private security companies, the operation of private military companies is currently prohibited. [2] The Working Group is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor the activities of mercenaries, mercenary-related activity, and the activities of private military and security companies. Amid strife with Kremlin, Wagner Group mercenaries enter Russian city Earlier this year, members of the United Nations' Working Group on the use of mercenaries called for investigations into crimes committed by Wagner Group fighters and Mali government forces. UN troop rotations in the peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) resumed on Monday with a new approval mechanismone month after they were suspended by the ruling junta, which accused 49 Ivorian soldiers of entering the country without permission. Wagner Group, headed byYevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group is particularly active in Africa, including gold, manganese, silicon and uranium. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Prigozhin sent his Wagner troops to the frontlines of the war. student at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, under the supervision of Professor Marco Sassli and Ms. Yvette Issar, research assistant, both at the University of Geneva. As such, most foreigners in principle can legitimately fight on the side of the Government. Switzerland, Working Group's independent website with additional documents and information, Mercenaries still pose a serious threat to human rights, warns UN expert body, Statement delivered on behalf of all Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council at the Fifteenth Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, UN Independent Experts express serious concern at the execution of four men in Equatorial Guinea (27 August 2010), UN experts visit Equatorial Guinea to discuss the menace posed by the activities of mercenaries (12 August 2010), Mercenaries: UN expert panel pushes for stronger regulation of private military and security companies, Presentation made by UN Working Group on the Use [11] Nonetheless, the Working Group believes that the information it has received points to several levels of foreigner engagement. Wagner mercenaries will not be withdrawn from Africa, says Russia What is the Wagner Group? - NBC News They urged Member States to actively answer the call to forge renewed multilateral frameworks: equitable, people-centred, grounded in human rights and not in power relations, and driven by solidarity and international cooperation. The survey will take no more than 4 minutes to complete. It will then hear the presentation of thematic reports by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Watch on YouTube. The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination was established in July 2005 pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/2.It succeeded the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries, which had been in existence since 1987. The announcement caps a frenetic 36 hours in . It was necessary to critically reflect on the types of situations and spaces in which private military and security companies operated, and the array of human rights and international humanitarian law violations that could and did arise. 3 August 2009, UN experts visit the United States However, this horrifying practice continued to exist, and, what was more, it morphed. [14]The Working Group urges the Government and the armed groups to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law and ensure respect for all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights related to the activities of foreigners in armed groups. States have obligations under international human rights law to prevent, investigate, and punish violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and to provide effective remedies and reparation to victims of mercenaries, mercenary-related actors, and private military and security companies, the experts said. The General Assembly also regularly adopts resolutions on the use of mercenaries that touch on the activities of the Working Group, most recently through resolution 74/138 in 2019. Wagner Group fighters came to thecountryofficially as advisors and military trainers and they also serve on the security detail of President Faustin-Archange Touadera. One speaker said that the multilateral system had always been a space for elites, excluding the majority of the world, and serving as a microcosm of the colonial, ableist, and patriarchal patterns they faced daily in societies. Despite months of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, Prigozhin has grown increasingly critical of the Russian Ministry of Defense and its efforts to support the war. Anton Katz, Chairperson-Rapporteur of 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, said the Working Group was of the view that regulating non-state actors such as private security providers required a multi-dimensional approach. Regional Consultation : General 2 July 2010 Original: English . Prigozhin, 61, is the head of the Wagner mercenary group that was supporting the Russian government in its war against Ukraine before Prigozhin turned against the Russian Ministry of Defense. Prigozhin himselfrecentlytalked about just 25,000 fighters. Persons in vulnerable situations, women, children, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities, LGBTI+ persons, older persons, minorities, human rights defenders and journalists, are experiencing particularly negative impacts, the experts highlighted. What is the Wagner Group, Russia's mercenary organisation? Learn about how you can report a human rights violation. The US government believes that the Wagner Group was being paid by the UAE to support Hifter in Libya. The Working Group recommended moving beyond self-regulatory regimes and called for a binding international regulatory framework governing the conduct of private military and security companies. Join us and make a difference. other 4 Regional Groups [6] The events of the 2014 Maidan protests in Kyiv and the 16 March 2014 referendum in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea [Footnote 2: Its status which is determined by the UN General Assembly resolution 68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Working Group I 2014 to present: Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Working Group II 2000 to present: Arbitration and Conciliation / Dispute Settlement Working Group III 2017 to present: Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform Working Group IV 1997 to present: Electronic Commerce Working Group V 2001 to present: Insolvency Law Working Group VI 2002 to present: Security Since 2014, after dictatorMuammar Gaddafiwas overthrown in a revolution, Libya has effectively been split into two. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group fought alongside regular Russian soldiers during Syria's civil war and saw active combat. The recommendation made by the Working Group to the United Nations to create an open-ended intergovernmental working group to consider an international regulatory framework to monitor PMSCs has been accepted despite the opposition of western states. She detailed that such reflections should be taken into consideration in addressing gaps in the regulatory framework governing the conduct of private military and security bodies, adding that the Working Group called on States to regulate, as a minimum, critical issues such as: prevention of human rights and international humanitarian law abuses; the scope of permissible activities of private military and security companies; accountability; and remedies for victims of such abuses. This blog is now closed. June 25, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news - CNN International Mercenaries: Soldiers Who Fight For Money : NPR Speakers urged Member States to actively answer the call to forge renewed multilateral frameworks: equitable, people-centred, grounded in human rights and not in power relations, and driven by solidarity and international cooperation. Some speakers firmly opposed and totally rejected the Working Group's use of inaccurate information and public denigration and urged it to work in an objective, impartial and non-selective manner. They were concerned about the persistence of enforced disappearances, which constituted extremely serious human rights violations. In this environment a diverse spectrum of combatant engagement has developed, with significant impact on the human rights of the people of Ukraine, and limited accountability. Mercenary Activities Undermine Rule of Law, Perpetuate - UN Press UN votes to immediately end its peacekeeping operation in Mali after a The Working Group on Mercenaries, one of the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, has been entrusted to monitor the impact of the activities of private military and security companies (PMSCs) on the enjoyment of human rights and to prepare draft international basic principles that encourage respect for human rights on the part of those companies. After he was freed from jail, Prigozhin ran a hot dog stand before he became the owner of several fancy restaurants in Saint Petersburg. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work. Case prepared by Mr. Luca Motta, LL.M. Learn more about the UN presence and work in Geneva. Although high, these figures were not a full representation of the magnitude of the enforced disappearances in the world today. The panel of experts, which includes members of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries, said that Wagner's operations in Mali have been facilitated by 'a climate of terror and complete impunity.' The split between the Kremlin and Prigozhin's Wagner forces raises questions about the future of the group's influence in those regions. Get the latest from our news, events and meetings. The report analysed the fundamental lack of transparency around these operations, most notably in the relationships between clients and service providers. Other speakers said that the use of private military and security companies in the humanitarian sphere was a highly complex issue, not only because of existing legal loopholes, but also because of the reluctance of a number of actors, including developed States, to address the human rights impact of the actions of such companies. He recommended that States willing to take the matter further should cease to justify disappearances on the grounds of combatting terrorism; ensure that agreements - between a State which sought to bring a national to a country and a hosting State were in compliance with human rights; ensure the implementation of procedural guarantees; and carry out full comprehensive individual assessments. Ithad been granted a concession in 2017 by the former Sudanese government to explore gold mining sites. Russian mercenaries accused of deadly attacks on mines on Sudan-CAR Loosely defined, a mercenary is a soldier who fights for money rather than a cause or from loyalty or obligation to country. He insisted that it should never be forgotten that, behind these numerous cases, were human beings who became victims of one of the most heinous human rights violations. of Mercenaries to: Western European and Ms. Elbieta Karska (Poland) In certain circumstances defined by international law, enforced disappearances might constitute a crime against humanity. Some encouraged the Working Group to always keep in mind the principles of objectivity, impartiality, non-selectivity and effective verification of the facts in the fulfilment of its mandate, which was the north of the work of all the Special Procedures of this Council. Working Group on Use of Mercenaries: the I ncreasing Number of Private Military and Security Companies Operating in the Humanitarian Space Exacerbates the Risk of Violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Council Concludes Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order Since the Working Group was created in 1990, it had transmitted more than 59,000 cases to Sates, and these figures were only the tip of the iceberg. The Council will resume its work at 3 p.m. this afternoon, to conclude the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. At its peak, the Wagner Group is thought to have had more than 5,000 fighters in Syria. The United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries today urged Governments to recognize the need for a legally binding international agreement to regulate the use and activities of private military and security companies (PMSCs) to complement existing regulations. According to news agency Reuters, Wagner Group members were in Caracas in 2019 to provide security for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after protests against him. Concrete steps for monitoring, reporting, legislation and legal action will mean incremental achievement of justice for victims of violation, and the erosion of the harmful culture of impunity for acts committed during the armed conflict. Ms. Faizal Patel (Pakistan) Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Councils forty-eighth regular session can be found here. "Wagner almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and has become a key component of the Ukraine campaign," the UK's Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter earlier this year. Mercenaries, Private Military Contractors Can Destabilize - UN Press Ms.. It drew specific attention to the secrecy and opacity surrounding the activities of mercenaries, military contractors hired to kill, and private security companies; their complex business and corporate structures, issues related to jurisdiction; and gaps in national and international regulation. 'Putin's position has been weakened' by mercenaries' revolt, Senator Reed says Senator Jack Reed said Monday that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's actions had sparked a more vocal . Ms. Najat Al-Hajjaji (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) Abstract. The report highlights a lack of accountability and the common challenges faced by victims in accessing justice and effective remedies to overcome the damage mercenaries leave in their wake. UN, Working Group on the use of Mercenaries: Preliminary Findings of JELENA APARAC, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the right of peoples to self-determination, presented the thematic report of the Working Group which highlighted the role of private military and security companies in humanitarian action. Ms. Patricia Arias (Chile) The Top 5 Most Unionized Industries - Investopedia The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination was established in July 2005 pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/2. It was important to ensure vaccine equity and equal distribution of the vaccine between the Global North and the Global South. Wagner Group fighters are thought to have been in Libya since 2014 and were tasked with supporting the eastern-based government and its de-facto head, former Libyan warlordKhalifa Hifterwith tasks like security and training. Although the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries has been extremely critical of private security contractors, the UN is increasingly turning to PMSCs in its missions abroad.
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