The Use of Private Military and Security Companies by the United Nations
The work of private military and security contractors is extremely controversial from the point of view of international law and of practice. Sometimes there are doubts as to whether some of their activities should be considered legal activities or illegal mercenarism. Like any other entities using force, they can violate human rights as well as international humanitarian law. They provide their services to, among others, states and intergovernmental organisations, including the UN.
This requires a precise definition of the rules under which such contractors operate, both with regard to the law of treaties and the domestic law of the entities using their services. A question also arises as to whether there is any legal limit to their services being used by intergovernmental organisations, i.e. entities deriving their competences from the will of their member states. The work of the UN is an interesting example here. The organisation uses such contractors, but on the other hand, it undertakes various activities to eliminate any potential threats in this respect.
The operation of Private Military and Security Companies is an extremely interesting issue from the point of view of international law, especially international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the use of private contractors in operations that have been traditionally regarded as a domain of the state. This happens because of both economic and political reasons. The use of pm sc s is less expensive than the use of a state’s own armed forces. A practically one-off payment means an end to all settlements. There is no need to acquire and then maintain the necessary equipment beforehand, to maintain personnel, to pay pensions and disability benefits. A private contractor is hired, when his service is needed, and is not engaged ‘just in case’. Outsourcing of state competences in this respect brings with it a completely different dimension of political accountability. When foreign armed forces are brought by one state into another state or maintained by one state within the territory of another state, this is seen by the international public opinion as something completely different from the very same action taken through pm sc s .