War on Want is calling for a complete ban on the use of mercenaries in combat situations and thinks politicians in the UK are not doing enough to regulate the multi-billion pound industry.
“Mounting human rights abuses by mercenary firms making a killing in Iraq are fuelling demands for legislation,” said Ruth Tanner, senior campaigns officer for the charity.
“But while the US and Iraqi governments move towards controls, UK ministers fail to take action. It is high time foreign secretary David Miliband followed suit with strong measures to curb these private armies.”
The charity has launched a briefing – which aims to highlight the “urgent need for regulation in the UK” – to coincide with today’s annual conference of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC) in London.
“Self-regulation by the industry is not an option,” it reads.
“Legislation must outlaw private military security companies’ involvement in all forms of direct combat and combat support, understood in their widest possible senses.”
The BAPSC has long supported legitimacy and sees regulation as a way of maintaining a positive perception of security companies.
“Private security companies cannot afford to operate without the legitimacy that will double the strength of their action if they have it and halve it if they don’t,” said diplomat Sir Jeremy Greenstock at the end of last year’s conference.
War on Want estimates the British government has spent GB pound 179m on private security contracts in Iraq in the last four years and a further GB pound 46m during the same period in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Working Group on Mercenaries has renewed its call for regulation by all governments in countries where private security companies are based.
In October US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice ordered tougher controls on Blackwater – the firm at the centre of an international row – which have led to CCTV being installed on its vehicles.
Reputable private security companies argue they play an important role in rebuilding impoverished or war torn countries, providing valuable support to military personnel.