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New research from Edith Cowan University found that nation-states could be held responsible for human rights violations committed by private militaries under their direction.
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that national governments that employ private military companies (PMC) can be held liable for human rights violations committed by these companies.
“States have the responsibility to ensure that any private military company that acts on their behalf should be well supervised and should be held accountable when instances of human rights violations are reported,” said Associate Professor Shannon Bosch.
PMCs are used by a range of nations, providing logistical and training support, along with combat operations. They have been used by the United States in the Middle East, across Africa in internal conflicts, and more recently, Russia has used the PMC Wagner in their advancement against Ukraine, a PMC which has become synonymous with a range of human rights violations in war.
ECU found that despite the government’s potential attempts to classify the illegal actions of private militaries as mercenaries, the typical legal status of PMC as employees with a nation-state would exempt them from mercenary status.
In the research, specific examples of PMCs such as Wagner and Africa Corps were highlighted as having “partnered with elected leaders, African dictators, rebel groups and military generals and offer services ranging from private protection details to full military services” when such violations occur.
Currently, the International Law Commission’s articles of responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts are non-binding and thus an unenforceable customary international law that aims to provide the global community with a means to hold states responsible for the actions of private military.
“Immunity clauses and informal arrangements cannot shield states from responsibility when violations involve non-derogable rights,” Bosch said, adding that third-party states also have a responsibility to act if the host nation is unwilling to address human rights violations committed by PMCs.
In alignment with ECU’s findings, currently, the known use of Wagner against Ukraine raises the idea that Russia could be potentially held accountable for the presumed human rights violations that may be occurring.
