Mercenaries still pose serious threat to human rights, warns UN Experts by UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries 3:18am 18th Mar, 2011   The United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries has discussed recent events in Côte d’Ivoire and Libya has warned that mercenaries are still very active in Africa where they have been recruited to attack civilians.    “The issue of mercenaries is still very much alive,” said the Group’s Chair-Rapporteur, José Luis Gómez del Prado, at the end of the expert body’s twelfth session in Geneva, where they examined country situations involving the use of mercenaries. “Such mercenaries are being used as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of people to self-determination.”    “We are especially concerned about the reported involvement of mercenaries in serious human rights violations,” stressed Mr. Gómez del Prado. In this regard, the Working Group reiterated its call on States to ratify the International Convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries of 4 December 1989.    During its week-long session, the Working Group also discussed the draft Convention on Private Military and Security Companies, as well as the experts’ participation in the forthcoming inter-governmental discussions on establishing such a regulatory framework, which will take place from 23 to 27 May 2011 in Geneva.    “This is an important moment and we very much hope that many States and civil society actors will participate and move towards the adoption of the draft convention which has been the product of many years of discussions and consultations with a range of stakeholders,” Mr. Gómez del Prado said.    The members of the Working Group will act as resource persons in discussions which will focus, among other things, on the adoption of the proposal for an International Convention, which was presented to the Human Rights Council last September. Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item