War and Security Are Being Privatized Worldwide
HAVANA TIMES – In a report presented on Friday, November 7, United Nations human rights experts warned of the increasingly dangerous and destabilizing role played by mercenaries and private military and security companies in modern conflicts.
The document presented by the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries convened by the United Nations Human Rights Council, highlights that this privatization of war and security threatens the sovereignty of states and human rights globally.
Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito, chair of the Working Group, said, “We are deeply concerned that these actors are increasingly being recruited not only in armed conflicts, but also in times of peace, including in counterterrorism operations, against organized crime, and in humanitarian operations.”
“The agents, facilitators, and promoters [of these groups] often circumvent international legal frameworks, evade accountability, and cause serious harm to the civilian population. They are not mere spectators of conflict; they are initiators and key perpetrators of conflict,” added the Serbian academic.
The document, presented to the UN General Assembly, emphasizes that these actors have evolved beyond the traditional figure of the soldier of fortune and now often operate under complex corporate structures that allow them to evade responsibility and exploit legal loopholes.
Among the best-known mercenary companies and private security firms are the US companies DynCorp and Academi (formerly Blackwater), the Canadian company GardaWorld, the Russian company Wagner, and the British company G4S. The report presented on Friday did not include a list of security contractors.
In its analysis of the threats posed by these actors, the Group first mentions the challenge to state sovereignty, as the hiring of these private forces by governments or non-state actors can undermine the legitimate monopoly of force by the state.
In some cases, they are used to avoid public scrutiny of casualties in conflicts, weakening democratic accountability.
At the same time, the report pinpoints risks of serious human rights violations, as mercenaries and the companies that hire them “commit documented and recurrent abuses such as extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and human trafficking.”
“Their transnational nature and the opacity of their operations make it extremely difficult to bring perpetrators to justice,” the text points out.
This is followed by widespread impunity, as international legal architecture is insufficient to effectively regulate and control their activities. Ambiguous jurisdictions, secret contracts, and complex subcontracting chains create a “responsibility vacuum” that most of the companies exploit.
The use of digital platforms to recruit these mercenaries and to perpetuate disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks exacerbates the difficulty of bringing the perpetrators to justice, the report indicates.
Another concern the report highlighted was the “disturbing new business models,” as hybrid models emerge in which companies offer not only security, but also intelligence, cyberwarfare, and even political influence, sometimes allying themselves with corrupt elites or corporations to influence the outcomes of conflicts.
The report was presented as a stern warning that “the world is facing a covert privatization of war,” which erodes the pillars of international humanitarian law and human rights.
Against this backdrop, the UN Working Group urgently called on member states to strengthen the international legal framework, including consideration of a new legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of private military and security companies.
It also called for universal jurisdiction to be guaranteed in order to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by mercenaries, and for strict analysis to be carried out before authorizing or contracting the services of these companies.
Finally, it called on the relevant jurisdictions to investigate all allegations of violations and ensure that victims have access to justice and reparation.