International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries

International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries
[A/RES/44/34 72nd plenary meeting on 04 December 1989 The General Assembly]

The States Parties to the present Convention,

Reaffirming the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the
United Nations and in the Declaration on the Principles of International Law
concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations,

Being aware of the recruitment, use, financing and training of
mercenaries for activities which violate principles of international law such
as those of sovereign equality, political independence, territorial integrity
of States and self-determination of peoples,

Affirming that the recruitment, use, financing and training of
mercenaries should be considered as offences of grave concern to all States
and that any person committing any of these offences should either be
prosecuted or extradited,

Convinced of the necessity to develop and enhance international
co-operation among States for the prevention, prosecution and punishment of
such offences,

Expressing concern at new unlawful international activities linking drug
traffickers and mercenaries in the perpetration of violent actions which
undermine the constitutional order of States,

Also convinced that the adoption of a convention against the recruitment,
use, financing and training of mercenaries would contribute to the eradication
of these nefarious activities and thereby to the observance of the purposes
and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,

Cognizant that matters not regulated by such a convention continue to be
governed by the rules and principles of international law,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention,

1. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an
armed conflict;

(b) 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 rank and functions in the armed
forces of that party;

(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of
territory controlled by a party to the conflict;

(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and

(e) 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.

2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of
participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at:

(i) Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the
constitutional order of a State; or

(ii) Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;

(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for
significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material
compensation;

(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such
an act is directed;

(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and

(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory
the act is undertaken.

Article 2
Any person who recruits, uses, finances or trains mercenaries, as defined
in article 1 of the present Convention, commits an offence for the purposes of
the Convention.

Download full text:

International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries – 44/34 The General Assembly
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r034.htm

More Resources

UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
http://psm.du.edu/international_regulation/un_initiatives/human_rights_council_and_general_assembly/wg_on_mercenaries.html

International Laws
http://www.reparationlaw.com/humanrights/hr_international_law.php

United Nations
http://www.reparationlaw.com/resources/category/united-nations/

The Montreux Document on private military and security companies
http://www.eda.admin.ch/psc

UAE’s Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder
http://www.uaeprison.com/blog/uaes-secret-desert-force-set-up-by-blackwater%e2%80%99s-founder/

Last updated: December 17, 2012
[link Source: UAE Human Rights Blog http://www.uaeprison.com/blog/category/uaes-secret-desert-force/ ]