Private military and security companies : options for regulation under human rights law

In the aftermath of the Cold war, new actors began to carry out a wide range of tasks with regard to the use of force. For instance, States relied on private business entities to perform military and security services which before had been performed by national armed forces. PMSCs are requested by governments, international organizations and NGOs or other corporations to provide with land-based or maritime military and/or security services that traditionally belonged to States. These services usually include the armed guarding and the protection of persons and objects, the maintenance and operation of weapons system, intelligence and technical assistance, prisoner detention and interrogation of suspects and transport, advice of and/or training of local forces/security personnel, and –in some cases- the direct participation in hostilities. Consequently, the engagement of PMSCs with several and different tasks and the transnational nature of their operations increase concerns about the effectiveness of their regulation, both at international and national levels. However, some questions concerning their responsibilities for any misconduct committed by them are raised. Most actually, PMSCs are usually being involved in violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law during their operations. However, the absence of a coherent and binding international legal framework to regulate PMSCs and oversee their activities in conjunction with the lack of national regulatory and advocacy frameworks which have jurisdiction directly over PMSCs' misconduct relieved private contractors to escape from prosecution and accountability from alleged human rights violations. Within the aforementioned context, the present thesis attempts to find out whether the PMSCs and their activities could be regulated throughout the context of human rights law. Therefore, the current thesis is divided into two main parts; the first part on the international and national efforts for regulation of PMSCs; and the second one on obligations of States to regulate PMSCs’ activities and punish the perpetrators. In particular, this thesis examines the obligations of States to regulate and monitor PMSCs’ activities with regard to the Montreux Document’s standards and it also focuses on the need of the adoption of a new coherent international regulatory regime which is going to demonstrate precisely the obligations and responsibilities of States, international organisations and PMSCs for land-based and maritime-based activities. Moreover, it presents and analyses the national regulatory mechanisms for punishment and prosecution of PMSCs’ employees for human rights violations. By using examines different national legislative frameworks, the present thesis considers that the absence of an international framework to punish private contractors for human rights violations allows for non-compliance with human rights law. Furthermore, the application of human rights law on the regulation of PMSCs’ activities constitutes an important part of the present research. So as, it examines the States’ human rights obligations to regulate PMSCs’ activities and demonstrates the States’ efforts to fulfill their obligations under human rights law regarding the regulation of PMSCs’ and their employees’ activities. In conclusion, the present thesis goes one step further. It explores whether the human rights judiciary bodies, and particular the ECtHR have the jurisdiction to adjudicate PMSCs’ employees for human rights abuse