VZCZCXRO3119
PP RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #1063/01 3252113
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 212113Z NOV 07
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INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0635
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0340
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0196
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1108
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 0210
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2948

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: MERCENARIES 
 
 
¶1. (U) On November 7, Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, Chairmen of 
the UN's Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries as a Means 
of Violating Human Rights and Impeding the Exercise of the 
Right of Peoples to Self-Determination, presented his report 
to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.  Much of 
his statement dealt with the use of private security guards 
in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
 
¶2. (U) Gomez del Prado said the Working Group had received 
complaints that guards from private security firms are acting 
indiscriminately, shooting, killing or injuring civilians 
whom they consider a threat.  He noted that the September 16 
incident in Iraq is one of many such incidents that have 
occurred since private security firms started operating 
there.  He argued that governments have a duty to respect 
human rights, the rule of law and public order, even when 
using private security companies. 
 
¶3. (U) Gomez del Prado noted that the U.S. State Department 
contracts security firms, which in turn sub-contract with 
other companies, whose employees are often former military 
and police officers recruited abroad.  He stated that this 
leads to complicated contractual relationships and unclear 
accountability for violations of human rights caused by these 
contracted guards, and to violations of the rights of the 
guards themselves. 
 
------------- 
U.S. Response 
------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The U.S. delegate responded that the United States 
sets high standards for all security contractors at the U.S. 
Embassy in Baghdad.  He described Embassy procedures in 
response to rare instances of the use of force by 
contractors.  He also described the U.S. response to the 
September 16 incident, including an FBI investigation, a 
joint commission of inquiry with the government of Iraq, and 
the Secretary of State's Panel on Personnel Protective 
Services in Iraq.  (The full text of the U.S. statement is 
available at www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov.) 
 
¶5. (U) In response Gomez del Prado thanked the United States 
for outlining measures taken to ensure accountability among 
its security contractors in Iraq.  He noted that more than 
20,000 private security guards have worked in Iraq since the 
beginning of the conflict.  He stated that the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights raised the issue of the 
accountability of these individuals with the United States 
and the U.S. response has been that these individuals are 
accountable to the U.S. federal courts.  He also noted, 
however, that Ambassador L. Paul Bremer had granted immunity 
to individual contractors and that as a result Iraqi courts 
are not able to bring these individuals to justice. 
¶6. (U) Gomez del Prado argued that while private security 
companies have codes of conduct, they are often not enforced 
in practice.  He noted that there have been many cases of 
indiscriminate acts of violence by contractors and that these 
incidents have been reported in the press.  He also argued 
that there is a need for regulation to cover the "gray 
areas," including a possible optional protocol to the UN's 
1989 convention on mercenaries.  He suggested holding 
regional meetings, which would bring together companies and 
NGOs to come up with such a protocol. 
 
------------------------- 
Other Delegations Respond 
------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Russia called for the creation of a legislative basis 
to monitor and track private security contractors.  Libya 
stated that it is not a matter of prohibiting, but rather of 
regulating and evaluating, the work of these companies. 
Later in the debate, however, the Libyan delegate argued that 
the international community must correct the problem of this 
"new form of mercenarism" as soon as possible by banning and 
criminalizing the use of private companies in cases of 
invasion and occupation.  Venezuela said the involvement of 
mercenaries both in security services and in training of 
foreign armed forces constitutes a violation of human rights 
and the right to self-determination and could lead to 
incitement of civil wars.  Chile expressed support for the 
Working Group, but said the issue of alleged violations of 
human rights of indigenous peoples by contractors of a 
forestry company in Chile is outside the Group's mandate. 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001063  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8. (U) The report of the Working Group can be found at 
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/48 9/82/ 
PDF/N0748982.pdf?OpenElement. 
Khalilzad