Additional international human rights standards are needed to regulate the activities of private security companies and new mercenaries.
That is the conclusion of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries which just ended its third session in Geneva. The Group is concerned by the lack of legal mechanisms to control the growing number of private security companies operating in zones of armed conflict, such as Afghanistan and Iraq. There have been many instances of civilians being killed by those groups, who bear little responsibility for such violations. The Working Group will organize a regional meeting for Eastern European and CIS countries in an effort to spur a high-level discussion of the role and obligations of states and private military security companies in protecting human rights. The members of the Working Group will also visit the United Kingdom and Afghanistan in the course of this year.
Reporting for UN Radio, this is Elena Vapnitchnaia.
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