A/HRC/RES/39/5
particular in areas of conflict, and about the threat they pose to the integrity of and respect
for the constitutional order of the countries affected,
Deeply concerned at the loss of life, the substantial damage to property and the
negative effects on the policies and economies of affected countries resulting from
international criminal mercenary activities,
Convinced that, regardless of the way in which mercenaries or mercenary-related
activities are used or the form that they take to acquire a semblance of legitimacy, they are
a threat to peace, security and the self-determination of peoples and an obstacle to the
enjoyment of human rights by peoples,
1.
Reaffirms that the use of mercenaries, and their recruitment, financing,
protection and training, are causes for grave concern to all States and violate the purposes
and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
2.
Recognizes that armed conflicts, terrorism, arms trafficking and covert
operations by third Powers encourage, inter alia, the demand for mercenaries and for
private military and security companies on the global market;
3.
Urges once again all States to take the necessary steps and to exercise the
utmost vigilance against the threat posed by the activities of mercenaries, and to take
legislative measures to ensure that their territories and other territories under their control,
and their nationals, are not used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training,
protection and transit of mercenaries for the planning of activities designed to impede the
right to self-determination, to overthrow the Government of any State or to dismember or to
impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and
independent States conducting themselves in compliance with the right of peoples to selfdetermination;
4.
Requests all States to exercise the utmost vigilance against any kind of
recruitment, training, hiring or financing of mercenaries;
5.
Also requests all States to exercise the utmost vigilance in banning the use of
private companies offering international military consultancy and security services when
intervening in armed conflicts or actions to destabilize constitutional regimes;
6.
Encourages States that import the consultancy and security services provided
by private companies, including in the extractive industries, to establish national regulatory
mechanisms for the registering and licensing of those companies, for accountability of the
companies and their personnel and for remedies for violations resulting from their activities
in order to ensure that imported services provided by those private companies neither
impede the enjoyment of human rights nor violate human rights in the recipient country;
7.
Calls upon all States that have not yet become a party 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 were visited 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.
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 to
respect for the constitutional order of those countries and to 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, and into the political motivations of mercenaries and
for mercenary-related activities;
10.
Calls upon States to investigate the possibility of mercenary and mercenaryrelated involvement whenever and wherever criminal acts of a terrorist nature occur and to
bring to trial those found responsible or to consider their extradition, if so requested, in
accordance with national law and applicable bilateral or international treaties;
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