HagaMUN



18161000Haganum Model United NationsGymnasium Haganum, The Hague Research Reports Haganum Model United NationsGymnasium Haganum, The Hague Research Reports Disarmament CommissionThe prevention of the use of mercenaries in armed conflicts12736858 th, 9 th and 10 th of March 2019Forum:Disarmament CommissionIssue:The prevention of the use of mercenaries in armed conflictsStudent Officer:Kacper SzpejnaPosition:President of the Disarmament Commission (DC)1101600IntroductionHonourable Delegates,We are more than delighted to welcome you to this year’s edition of the Haganum Model United Nations. The committee will debate upon the topic of “The prevention of the use of mercenaries in armed conflicts.” This particular issue has been on the rise for the previous couple of decades. To to the poor wording of all sorts of conventions, protocols and resolutions, mercenaries in one form or another continue to flourish. Many of the issues undertaken by the United Nations are extensive and exceptionally difficult. This notion arises from the nature of the Security Council and its sub-committees, such as the Disarmament Commission, which you have the pleasure to be a part of. Its main task is to maintain stability and peace. While the task happens to appear as quite simple, it is indeed tremendously demanding. The national interests and alliances are some of the key concerns that the UNDC faces. We encourage you to take the matter under careful scrutiny, as it requires profound knowledge, consideration and mindfulness. The countries that have been entangled in the conflict before, are a part of P5 members, which makes the resolution drafting process much more troubling.Under the United Nations Charter, the primary objective of the Security Council and Disarmament Commission is to promote and maintain international peace and safety. These committees have continued to respond to world crises, whether through peaceful means, deployment of military forces or sanctions. The matter in question of this committee has continued the substantial use of armed forces and unnecessary violence. Thence, further discussing the issue of mercenary usage, which is a threat to the Millenium Goal themselves, is of an urgent matter.This study guide contains the fundamental information about the matters to be discussed during the committee work, but please, keep in mind that the issues are undeniably complex and worthy of further personal investigation.We would like to express our enthusiasm towards the upcoming conference and the work within the UNDC committee. We wish you fruitful preparations and best luck during the committee work!Definition of Key TermsA mercenary - Person who takes part in an armed conflict in exchange for money or some other kind of recompense. Mercenaries most often are not the same nationality as conflicted sides, nor do they represent any of their political interests. What makes mercenary a mercenary is a fact, that he is not part of any regular army and/or governmental military police.Private military company - as the name states, they are private companies, which provide military aid and/or armed and highly trained security guards to anyone who is willing to become their client. They do not serve any particular government or ideology, as they can work for however pays the price. PMCs emphatically stress, that their members are to be referred to as “security contractors”, and under any circumstances as “mercenaries”.Protocol I - An additional protocol added to Geneva Conventions, of which article 47 treats about the mercenaries. It defines the term “mercenary” as: (a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.And states, that any individual considered to be a mercenary has no right to be a combatant and prisoner of war, thus, he does not apply to any other articles from the Geneva Conventions that state about soldiers (combatants).Background InformationGeneral informationThe concept of a mercenary itself is everything but new, as so long ago as in ancient Greece or Rome there were mentions about “soldiers of fortune”. However, In the 19th and 20th century their role came down from the pedestal and became something quite opposite. What was highly visible during the bloody fall of European colonial empires, mercenaries hired by the aforementioned colonial states to leverage their wealth into the manpower, in order to gain an advantage over the “national liberation movements”. Moreover, they are considered to be a unique actor, which specialises in destabilizing a certain region, as they can be hired abroad and fight, without directly involving the sponsoring party.The United Nations High Commissioner Office recognised 3 types of situations, where mercenaries operate.International armed conflictThis one is pretty straight forward. One of the conflicted sides hires mercenaries to fight for them in the front lines, or they use the service provided by the Private Military Companies, such as logistic aid, new, lethal technology and armed bodyguards.Civil WarIn this case, mercenaries are hired by the third party, in order to represent, or rather, fight, for their clients’ personal interests. In addition, in both of the aforementioned examples, the involvement of mercenaries may be a reason of the state’s collapse, and thus, resulting in denying the right to self-determination, which is a breach of Article 15 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Non-conflict situationsFor that matter, there are 2 cases that shall be listed. First, is when the hired mercenaries are not to exactly fight off the client’s enemies, but they are to help the governments execute some drastic means on the people if their army is unable to do so. Second, the mercenaries can be used to violently take on the government. This one, to be sure, poses a grave threat to the state. The most endangered countries are the smaller ones, rich in natural resources, as their armies are generally not sufficient to oppose the mercenaries.Major Countries and Organizations InvolvedAcademi (Blackwater)Blackwater is one of the most recognizable Private Military Companies in the world. The United States government became a regular customer of theirs, hiring them for protection and logistical support for a variety of conflict the US was involved in. They are comfortable for the US government, as the contractors are usually better trained, they can take more risky operations and they don’t have to worry about compensation. Academi’s contractors played a major role and Iraq. And, as well as they helped the United States, they were also convicted for the killing of innocent civilians.United Nations Mercenary ConventionTo be precise, International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries is a treaty adopted in 2001, which aims to define and eliminate mercenary activity around the globe. However, was neither ratified nor even signed by some crucial Member States, who still hold shady PMCs in within their law.Picture: Map of states which belong to the UN Mercenary Convention. Notice the lack of P5 members as well.G4S (Group 4 Securicor)G4S is the greatest Security companies in the world. It operates in 90 countries and hires almost 600 000 people all around the world, making it the world’s third private employer. Its headquarters are located in Great Britain, and most of its operations are set in Europe. G4S is responsible for the protection of large events, as well as running British prisons, or even providing technical support to Israeli prisonsThe Social, Humanitarian and Political CommitteeThe Third Committee had the series of meetings about self-determination, few of them targeted the very issue of mercenaries themselves. “Mercenaries and private military companies can violently destabilize a country, rendering it helpless and ineffective” stated the SocHum. They have stressed the importance of defining and eliminate the PMCs mercenary issue, as it poses a grave danger to point 16 of Millenium goals, which stands for peace, justice and strong institutions. All of the statements will be available in the Appendix section.United Nations Working Group on the Use of MercenariesThe working group on mercenaries is a special mechanism, established in 2005 by the Human Right Council. It poses a mandate to investigate any mercenary and mercenary-related activities. They have a specific ability to monitor and study all the activities from the Private Security Companies The 5 experts the working group consists of examine both human rights violations in host countries of PMCs, as well as human rights concerns in PMCs’ home countries, .Timeline of EventsDateEvent1977Introduction of the Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions4th December 1989Adoption of the Mercenary Convention by the General Assembly1997The Establishment of Academi12th December 1997Adoption of the anti-mercenary Resolution by the General Assembly2004The Establishment of G4SJuly 2005The Establishment of the United Nations Working Group on Mercenaries2007The Infamous Blackwater Incident in Iraq2017Founder of Blackwater starts cooperation with the Chinese government to help them establish the One Belt One RoadRelevant UN Treaties and EventsThe most relevant United Nations resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, regarding the definition and usage of mercenary service:International Convention against the Recruitment, Use Financing and Training of Mercenaries, 4th December 1989 (A/RES/44/34)Use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impedingthe exercise of the rights of peoples to self-determination,12th December 1997, (A/RES/52/643)Previous Attempts to solve the IssueNumerous debates and United Nations sessions took place before, resulting in aforementioned in the report Treaties. However, as the mercenary issue now transformed to the PMCs issue, there have been no clear efforts to solve it.Possible SolutionsAs the topic is quite broad, here are some things the Delegates may consider:Raising awareness of the crucial nature of the topic, thus, convincing the other Member States, such as the US and Russia, to join the relevant treatiesRedefining the term “mercenary”, so it would fit the modern world standards, one that involves PMCsEstablishing some sorts of NGOs, which would help to direct the public opinion to the prohibition of mercenaries, and possibly, some kind of PMCsThe aforementioned possible solutions are just a taste of what the Delegate should come up with. So, study our country’s policy in detail and propose your solutions during the debates!BibliographyMercenaries, Commentary on Protocol I, International Committee of the Red Cross, Retrieved on January 2019: 47, Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, Retrieved on January 2019: rights experts on the use of mercenaries weigh ‘increasing activity’ of foreign fighters (25.07.2015), UN News, Retrieved on January 2019: Gilsinan (25.03.2015), The return of the mercenary, The Atlantic, Retrieved on January 2019: . C. Burmester (27.02.2017), The recruitment and use of mercenaries in armed conflicts, American Journal of International Law, Retrieved on January 2019: issue of mercenaries, How does law protect in war?, case study, Retrieved on January 2019: Horton (18.04.2017), The American mercenary behind Blackwater is helping China establish the new Silk Road, Quartz, Retrieved on January 2019: is strongly suggested to visit the relevant organizations’ sites for further study:United Nations Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee meeting on the topic of mercenaries: official website of the working group: history: luck! ;) ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download