Private Security Regulation.Net

DCAF representatives attend and contribute towards various events on the Privatisation on Security. Here is a list of recent events at which DCAF representatives gave presentations.

Final Meeting of the Swiss Initiative on Private Military and Security Companies

15-17 September Montreux, Switzerland

After nearly three years of meetings between states, NGOs and industry representatives, seventeen states endorsed the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices of States Related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict ("Montreux Document). DCAF has been involved with the initiative since its inception, and created the website www.privatesecurityregulation.net as a resource in support of its work.

Related links:
The Swiss Initiative at: http://www.eda.admin.ch/psc.
The Montreux Document at:
http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/topics/intla/humla...
DCAF's Privatisation of Security Programme at:
www.privatesecurityregulation.net.

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Hearing on Private Military and Security Firms

10 September Paris

DCAF attended a hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe (PACE) on Private Military and Security Firms, where they presented their report to the PACE on recommendations for regulation of private military and security companies (PMSCs). Also present at the hearing were Caroline Holmqvist of Kings College of London, Daniel Klingele of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, PACE member Rolf Uesseler, and Industry representative Lt. Col. Tim Spicer, CEO of Aegis Defence Services.

Related links:
Council of Europe hearing site:
http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/NewsManager/EMB_NewsManagerView.asp?ID=4035.

DCAF Recommendations to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for Effective Regulation of Private Military and Security Companies.

Summary of DCAF's Recommendations to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for Effective Regulation of Private Military and Security Companies.

Presentation to Kosovar MPs on Recommendations on PSC Draft Law

Geneva,3 June 2008

The European Commission for Human Rights held that ‘the rights and freedoms defined in the Convention … requires States to take measures to ensures that individuals within their jurisdiction are not subjected to [violations] administered by private individuals’ This means that States have to put in place laws that will effectively regulate actors such as private security actors to ensure that they will act in accordance with international standards, in particular European Human Rights standards.

Presentation to the Conference on 'Overview: general challenges presented by PSCs'.

Privatisation of Security: Issues of responsibility and democratic control

Clingendael, 23 May 2008

The inherent nature and dynamics of the private security sector present strong challenges to effective parliamentary oversight. Most serious of these challenges is the lack of quality information and transparency regarding the nature and scope of PMSC personnel, rules and practices.

Presentation to the Conference on 'Privatisation of Security: Issues of responsibility and democratic control'.

Presentation to the "European Parliament Subcommittee of Security and Defence on 'Parliamentary Oversight of Private Security"

Brussels, 5 May 2008

The privatization of private military and security services, now occurring on a mass-scale, seriously challenges the traditional notion of the State Monopoly on the Use of Force. The consequences of this we are only now beginning to grasp, with issues such as impunity, challenges to the rule of law and even state-wrecking coming to the fore. While we cannot turn back the clock, these serious challenges require equally serious parliamentary action to rein in the activities of private military and security companies (PMSCs), and in so doing fulfil the parliamentary responsibility of security oversight.

Presentation to the European Parliament Subcommittee of Security and Defence on 'Parliamentary Oversight of Private Security'.

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

Montreux, 14-15 April 2008

The issue of armed non state actors for hire has been a main area of focus for DCAF for several years. The downsizing of regular armed forces in response to the end of the Cold War, and the emergence of many new smaller and hotter conflicts during the 1990's, increased the demand for professional military manpower and expertise. These gaps have increasingly been filled through 'alternative service delivery', which is a euphemism for the services provided by private security,
private military and mercenaries.

Transcript of a speech presented to the Working Group by Anne-Marie Buzatu, representing DCAF