Mercenaries Letter

14 September 2004

Dear Editor, (sent to Guardian, Independent, Tribune)

With regards to the Equatorial Guinea Mercenaries Coup affair involving UK people such as Sir Mark Thatcher and Simon Mann. In light of the fact that over 4 million people (i.e. half of London) have died in violent conflicts in Africa since 1998 (in the last 6 years); over 80% of them being civilians.

The UK Government should urgently:

1. Ratify the UN ' International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries' as it would contribute immensely to strengthening of international security; which, as one of the Veto 5 members of the UN Security Council, is on of the UK's prime responsibilities. If the UK feel it cannot ratify the convention in its present form or does not consider it enforceable, they should table changes to it at the UN to make it acceptable.

2. Publish an annual report on the effects and activities of Mercenaries in the world. Special emphasis should be placed on their roles in deadly conflicts; such as in supplying arms to fuel conflicts; the carnage in Africa during the last 6 Years; coups and attempted coups.

3. Pass UK legislation controlling Mercenaries. I note from the 2002 UK parliament green paper and debate on private military companies (PMCs). "The general military view and opinion is that because PMCs are motivated purely by money, the companies involved and their personnel must always be accountable to a nation state and sustainable over a period of time. If PMCs are to be regulated and legislated for, legitimacy and legality should be conveyed in an appropriate and transparent manner. This should involve, the UN, EU or a nation state sponsoring PMCs that have no "murky past" and no grounds for being suspected of sponsoring illegal activity. "

Mercenaries seem to represent a lawless; unregulated, unmonitored and generally unreported group who go around the world destroying lives and hindering development. They are a threat to stability, peace and security; a tool for breaking international laws (such as state sovereignty and human rights) and are thus hindering UK's prime responsibilities in international affairs. The UK government should urgently take effective actions to control this threat.

Yours Sincerely,

Karl Miller - Secretary - Arms Reduction Coalition

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Below are some background information on the abbove Letter

A Few Mercinaries Links

1. United Nations Resolution A/RES/47/84,   89th plenary meeting, 16 December 1992.   Use of mercenaries as a means to violate human rights and to impede the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r084.htm

The United Nations General Assembly, A/RES/44/34, 72nd plenary meeting, 4 December 1989, 44/34. International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r034.htm

2. 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.ohchr.org/english/issues/mercenaries/standards.htm  

3. UNHCR mercenaries documents http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=105
Also see THE IMPACT OF MERCENARY ACTIVITIES ON THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION
UNHCR Fact Sheet No. 28

4 Search for 'Mercinaries' or 'PMC' at http://www.publications.parliament.uk

5 Also see
STOP THE KILLING CAMPAIGN IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION by Stella M. Sabiiti

Declaration of the United Nations General Assembly 24 October 1970
DECLARATION ON PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW CONCERNING FRIENDLY RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION AMONG STATES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS

TRANSPARENCY IN ARMS TRANSFERS THROUGH A GLOBAL ARMS REGISTER, NOTABLY AS A MEANS TO CHECK THE GROWING USE OF VIOLENCE TO ACHIEVE POLITICAL OBJECTIVES
Resolution adopted without a vote by the 89th Inter-Parliamentary Conference (New Delhi, 17 April 1993)

THE SECRETARY GENERAL THE COMMONWEALTH LECTURE "AFRICA - MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM"
London, 14 March 2000

The Third Annual Africa Governance Forum (AGF III) 28 - 30 June 1999 Bamako, Mali
Final Report: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

 

Extracts from Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence  http://www.publications.parliament.uk

CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION

1.3.2 MODERN HISTORY

The modern perception of mercenaries has evolved since the Second World War and has been dominated by the use of mercenaries in Africa:

"When they first appeared in Africa, these independent mercenaries hired outside the constraints of the twentieth century nation-state system and seemingly motivated solely by pecuniary interests, were seen as a shocking anachronism".2

Some of these mercenary operations of the 1960s and 1970s involving Mad Mike Hoare, Bob Denard and Jacques Schramme were either seen as an attempt by western capitalists to retain control of a mineral rich region or as colonialists attempting to retain power. Thus Africans especially distrust private firms although numerous states and insurgents have hired them.

In recent years there has been the evolution of PMCs, with the end of the Cold War and its consequent surplus of ex-military personnel on the market and numerous low-intensity wars following the withdrawal of superpower support. Examples of these are Sandline and Executive Outcomes (EO) who were very involved in fighting rebel forces in Sierra Leone and Angola, Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) from the US had former Special Forces (SF) personnel training and equipping the Bosnian Federation's military force and the Vinnel Corporation currently has about one thousand men training the Saudi National Guard.

1.4 DEFINITIONS

In his 1997 report the UN Special Rapporteur on mercenaries showed his concern about the growth market in mercenary activity:

"In what appears to be a new international trend, legally registered companies are providing security, advisory and military training to the armed forces and police of legitimate Governments. There have been complaints that some of these companies recruit mercenaries and go beyond advisory and instruction work to become involved in military combat and taking over political, economic and financial matters in the country served".3

These firms have become known as Private Military Companies but there continues to be a debate as to whether they provide any form of mercenary activity under any existing national or international legislation. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a mercenary as "a professional soldier serving a foreign power". This is a wide definition, which would include many people engaged in legitimate activities, for example the Gurkhas in the British and Indian Armies and members of the French Foreign Legion. The Green Paper calls them 'soldiers of fortune, sometimes misguided adventurers and often disreputable thugs'. Article 47 of the 1977 First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions has six criteria that must all be met before a person can be considered a mercenary. This definition has generally been found to be impractical due to the difficulty in proving the motivation of those accused of being mercenaries. They were clearly written to target the small number of Europeans involved in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 1989 Additional Protocol Convention moved this legislation forward by making the use of mercenaries illegal. Article 2 makes it an offence to recruit, use, and finance or train mercenaries, Article 5 binds signatories not to do the above and Article 9 obligates them to punish violations. So far only 19 countries have ratified the convention and a further 9 have signed but not ratified. Moreover it should be noted that at least 3 of the signatories, the governments of Angola, Yugoslavia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have engaged or used mercenaries or PMCs since they signed. The Organisation for African Unity (OAU) has made political declarations against mercenaries and has growing support from idealists on the African continent and a lot of support in the UN from developing countries. The 1989 Convention Ratifiers and Signatories are shown below.

Table 1

THE 1989 ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL CONVENTION

The following nineteen states have ratified the Convention:

The following nine states have signed but have yet to ratify the Convention:

Azerbaijan

Angola

Barbados

Congo

Belarus

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cameroon

Germany

Cyprus

Morocco

Georgia

Nigeria

Italy

Poland

Maldives

Romania

Mauritania

Yugoslavia.

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Suriname

Togo

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

Uruguay

Uzbekistan.

From: http://www.publications.parliament.uk

The Report Includes:
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 4-THE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION PERSPECTIVE
CHAPTER 5-THE UNITED KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
THE DEBATE ON PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANIES
Memorandum from Dr Denis MacShane, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
EXISTING REGULATORY MEASURES

 

Part 1: Written Questions for Answer on Thursday 15 June 2000

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Answer

Mercenaries

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is regarding private military companies operating from the United Kingdom and dependent territories which are involved in the supply of mercenaries and related military services. [125280]

Mr. Hain: We condemn the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries. We are committed to issuing a Green Paper on mercenary activity by November 2000. This will be a consultative document which will look at the options for further Government action in this area.

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is regarding the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries; and if he will make a statement. [125310]

Mr. Hain: Her Majesty's Government have no plans to sign the 1989 International Convention on Mercenaries. We do not consider that it would be enforceable in the

15 Jun 2000 : Column: 704W

UK courts. Although the Convention was adopted more than ten years ago, it has not yet attracted sufficient ratifications to enter into force.