A/HRC/RES/21/8 6. Emphasizes its utmost concern about the impact of the activities of private military and security companies on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular when operating in armed conflicts, and notes that private military and security companies and their personnel are rarely held accountable for violations of human rights; 7. Calls upon all States that have not yet become parties to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries to consider taking the necessary action to do so; 8. Welcomes the cooperation extended by those countries that received a visit by the 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, and the adoption by some States of national legislation that restricts the recruitment, assembly, financing, training and transit of mercenaries; 9. Invites States to investigate the possibility of mercenary involvement whenever and wherever criminal acts of a terrorist nature occur; 10. Condemns mercenary activities in developing countries in various parts of the world, in particular in areas of conflict, and the threat they pose to the integrity of and respect for the constitutional order of these countries and the exercise of the right to selfdetermination of their peoples, and stresses the importance for the Working Group of looking into sources and root causes, as well as the political motivations of mercenaries and for mercenary-related activities; 11. Calls upon the international community and all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law, to cooperate with and assist the judicial prosecution of those accused of mercenary activities in transparent, open and fair trials; 12. Acknowledges with appreciation the work and contributions made by the Working Group, including its research activities, and takes note of its latest report; 1 13. Welcomes the holding of the second session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group to consider the possibility of elaborating an international regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies, and expresses satisfaction at the participation of experts, including of the members of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, as resource persons at the above-mentioned session, and requests the Working Group and other experts to continue to do so; 14. Takes note of the note by the Secretariat on the report of the second session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group; 2 15. Recommends that all Member States, including those confronted with the phenomenon of private military and security companies, as contracting States, States of operations, home States or States whose nationals are employed to work for a private military or security company contribute to the work of the open-ended intergovernmental working group, taking into account the work done by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries; 16. Requests the Working Group on the use of mercenaries to continue the work already done by previous mandate holders on the strengthening of the international legal framework for the prevention and sanction of the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries, taking into account the proposal for a new legal definition of a mercenary 1 2 A/HRC/21/43. A/HRC/21/40. 3