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The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries warned Friday of the increasing use of mercenaries and private military and security companies (PMSCs) as proxy actors in both conflict and peacetime settings. These private actors reportedly facilitate violence and human rights violations worldwide.
In its latest report to the UN General Assembly, the working group highlighted that proxy actors have been increasingly employed in military operations, such as operating drones, taking direct part in hostilities, and resolving ethnic hostilities. The report also stated that the rapidly changing dynamics in international and regional conflicts drive the growth of proxy actors in military coups d’état and transnational organized crime worldwide, including trafficking in minerals and illicit substances.
Beyond active conflicts, in times of peace, these proxy actors are employed to conduct cyberoperations, such as hacking, espionage, and interference with elections. Various forms of mistreatment were also allegedly committed during their mining operations, including torture and sexual violence against women and children. Their tactics and operations have resulted in escalating levels of harm against civilians, reportedly violating both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Local populations have even labelled their acts as “ruthless.”
While international law lacks an actionable definition of “proxies,” the report described them as individuals or entities acting on behalf of a state or non-state actor. The use of proxy actors can be classified into three main categories, namely direct delegation, orchestration, and sanctioning.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter imposes an obligation on member states to refrain from threatening the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. As the report emphasized, the use of mercenaries and PMSCs as proxies does not limit the state’s responsibility to this fundamental jus cogens norm
The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States further provides that “every State has the duty to refrain from organizing or encouraging the organization of irregular forces or armed bands, including mercenaries, for incursion into the territory of another State.”
Although there is no internationally binding instrument regulating private military, the UN experts urged states and private companies to comply with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to address human rights abuses.
Moreover, they recommended that states ratify the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
The experts called on regional organizations, such as the Organization of American States and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, to develop regional regulations monitoring proxy actors. They also urged mining and agribusiness to strengthen their due diligence process with regard to proxy actors.
The number of mercenaries and PMSCs has rapidly grown over the past 20 years, with thousands of such private entities operating around the world, such as Russia’s Wagner Group. In July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) also reported the summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men carried out by Mali’s armed forces and its allied Russian mercenaries.
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In its latest report to the UN General Assembly, the working group highlighted that proxy actors have been increasingly employed in military operations, such as operating drones, taking direct part in hostilities, and resolving ethnic hostilities. The report also stated that the rapidly changing dynamics in international and regional conflicts drive the growth of proxy actors in military coups d’état and transnational organized crime worldwide, including trafficking in minerals and illicit substances.
Beyond active conflicts, in times of peace, these proxy actors are employed to conduct cyberoperations, such as hacking, espionage, and interference with elections. Various forms of mistreatment were also allegedly committed during their mining operations, including torture and sexual violence against women and children. Their tactics and operations have resulted in escalating levels of harm against civilians, reportedly violating both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Local populations have even labelled their acts as “ruthless.”
While international law lacks an actionable definition of “proxies,” the report described them as individuals or entities acting on behalf of a state or non-state actor. The use of proxy actors can be classified into three main categories, namely direct delegation, orchestration, and sanctioning.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter imposes an obligation on member states to refrain from threatening the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. As the report emphasized, the use of mercenaries and PMSCs as proxies does not limit the state’s responsibility to this fundamental jus cogens norm
The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States further provides that “every State has the duty to refrain from organizing or encouraging the organization of irregular forces or armed bands, including mercenaries, for incursion into the territory of another State.”
Although there is no internationally binding instrument regulating private military, the UN experts urged states and private companies to comply with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to address human rights abuses.
Moreover, they recommended that states ratify the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
The experts called on regional organizations, such as the Organization of American States and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, to develop regional regulations monitoring proxy actors. They also urged mining and agribusiness to strengthen their due diligence process with regard to proxy actors.
The number of mercenaries and PMSCs has rapidly grown over the past 20 years, with thousands of such private entities operating around the world, such as Russia’s Wagner Group. In July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) also reported the summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men carried out by Mali’s armed forces and its allied Russian mercenaries.
The post UN experts warn of proxy actors rising in both war and peacetime appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.