A/HRC/RES/33/4
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
5 October 2016
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-third session
Agenda item 3
Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 29 September 2015
33/4.
The use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights
and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to selfdetermination
The Human Rights Council,
Recalling all previous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Human
Rights Council and the Commission on Human Rights on the subject, including Assembly
resolution 64/151 of 18 December 2009 and Council resolutions 10/11 of 26 March 2009,
15/12 of 30 September 2010, 15/26 of 1 October 2010, 18/4 of 29 September 2011, 24/13
of 26 September 2013, 27/10 of 25 September 2014 and 30/6 of 1 October 2015,
Recalling also all relevant resolutions that, inter alia, condemn any State that permits
or tolerates the recruitment, financing, training, assembly, transit or use of mercenaries with
the objective of overthrowing the Governments of States Members of the United Nations,
especially those of developing countries, or of fighting against national liberation
movements, and recalling further the relevant resolutions and international instruments
adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council,
the African Union and the Organization of African Unity, inter alia, the Organization of
African Unity Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa,
Recalling further Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of
the Council, and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for special procedure mandate holders of the
Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that all mandate holders shall discharge their duties
in accordance with these resolutions and the annexes thereto,
Reaffirming the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations concerning the strict observance of the principles of sovereign equality, political
independence, the territorial integrity of States, the self-determination of peoples, the nonuse of force or threat of use of force in international relations and non-interference in affairs
within the domestic jurisdiction of States,
Reaffirming also that, by virtue of the principle of self-determination, all peoples
have the right to determine freely their political status and to pursue freely their economic,
social and cultural development, and that every State has the duty to respect this right in
accordance with the provisions of the Charter,
GE.16-17235(E)