MERCENARIES: NAVIGATING THE MURKY WATERS OF ETHICS AND ROLES OF PMCs

Private military companies, or PMCs, have been around for hundreds of years. Colloquially known as mercenaries, these are soldiers that fight for money. They don't have allegiance to any political party, religion or state. Their only allegiance is to cold, hard cash. As such, using these services makes it easy and clear. Money in exchange for a range of services like protection and security, trainings or support for official armed forces. But, on the other hand, this also makes mercenaries dangerous. They work without parameters, and have nobody to answer to. As they are private contractors, they only have themselves to listen to. So, how ethical is it to use these PMCs? What are the benefits? And, lastly, what are the pitfalls a country might find with these operators?

WHAT IS A PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY?

Essentially, a PMC, as they are better known, are security companies that provide the same services as traditional armed forces, governmental security personnel, or police. These firms just provide privatised services on a smaller scale. Their employees are contractors, or soldiers-for-hire, and can be used by governments or private businesses for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Providing bodyguard services for diplomats, government officials, or company key staff 
• Provide security services to ensure a location is protected, for example guarding oil fields, company premises or ships, especially in hostile territories. 
• Provide support and strength to official armed forces
• Give training to local forces 

According to the Geneva Convention, ''a mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or prisoner of war.''  A combatant has the right to use force in situations of armed conflict under international humanitarian law, this means that they will not be prosecuted if their use of force is in conformity to the threat. However, if a civilian is in the same situation, they can face legal prosecution under that country's law. Considering that a mercenary is not a combatant, that means that anybody working as a military contractor shouldn't use force in a war zone or they can be facing legal repercussions in accordance to the country's law. 

Similar thoughts apply to the prisoner of war status. Both civilians and combatants have a right to be treated with dignity and provided with a basic level of care from the country that is detaining them. However, prisoners of war have clear provisions under the Geneva Convention on the fact that they can't be prosecuted for using force in armed conflict and also under what conditions, and when, they should be released. But, in saying that, a country could afford prisoner of war status to mercenaries if they so wish.  

A Wagner Group contractor at work in Africa

PMCs are different from official armed or police forces because they are made up of contractors that work for the company for a significant sum of money. These contractors don't have any ties to governments, situations or religions. They are there to do a job and to get paid. Soldiers or police officers, on the other hand, also earn a salary, but usually they also must adhere to a strict moral and ethical code, stringent rules and codes of conduct and follow all state and international laws in a war zone. 

FAMOUS PMCs

I would take a guess that private military company is synonymous with two groups for most people: Blackwater USA, and Wagner Group. While these are the most notorious of the PMCs, there are thousands of such businesses operating in every corner of the world.

Wagner Group  

Wagner Group is a bit of an anomaly, in my opinion, on what a PMC is. This is because the Wagner mercenaries are loyal to Russia. For them, forwarding Russian interests and dreams are at the forefront of their actions. And, this goes against the mercenary ethos of not being loyal to any state. Hence why some sources describe them as semi-private military group. 

Wagner Group logo

Wagner Group are equipped by the Russia's Ministry of Defence. They also hone their skills in the GRU training camp called Molkino, near the village of Molkin, in Krasnodar Krai. These mercenary troops have been deployed wherever the state of Russia has vested interests, but want to use forces that the Kremlin can deny links to. Places of interests that Wagner Group has participated in are: Syria, Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Mali and even participating in the annexation of Crimea in Ukraine.

Blackwater USA

Blackwater was founded in 1996 by Erik Prince, a former US Navy SEAL officer. During the past few years it has been known by a few names including Xe Services and Academi. Now, it looks like it is part of the Constellis group. It was a leader in the industry and the name is synonymous with PMCs. 

Blackwater logo

Blackwater was set up to provide training support to military and law enforcement organisations. Price described it as, "We are trying to do for the national security apparatus what FedEx did for the Postal Service". The company received its first governmental contract in the year 2000. Since then, it has provided services to various United States organisations over the years, such as the Central Intelligence Agency. They have worked in conflict situations in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The outfit drew a lot of negative press in the year 2007, when its members were responsible for shooting 17 Iraqi civilians and injuring 20 more, in Nisour Square, Baghdad. There were many other incidents where Iraqi or Afghanistan civilians were shot at or killed when Blackwater operatives where involved, for example after a drunk night. In most cases, the contractor was whisked out of the country and back to the USA. In the case of the Nisour Square shooting, four people were prosecuted originally, but were later pardoned in 2020 by former U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Hundreds of PMCs around the world 

The examples above are just two of the most well-known private military companies around. There are probably hundreds or thousands of firms, big and small, that provide these services around the world. The questionable tactics and ethics surrounding using such firms probably doesn't change. 

WHAT ARE THE ETHICS AND WHY 

A lot of independent people agree that using PMCs, especially in conflict zones, can bring on a dubious grey area in ethics and morality. This is because of a few key issues:

• They don't belong to any official law enforcement agency, therefore it's hard to police their activities. It is established knowledge that sometimes these contractors are responsible for crimes such as sexual assault, torture, beatings, and indiscriminate death amongst other things. 
• These companies can be employed in situations where a government can deny liability or claims to fault, as these are private contractors and are not official employees.
• When it comes to prosecution, it can be a legal minefield as to who is responsible for the crime
• As non-state agents, they can be used as a tool to instigate war without officially ''going to war''.  

What we can surmise is that the industry is growing at a rapid pace year on year. Governments and corporations are engaging the services of PMCs on a more broader scale so we need to have clear international standards and treaties in place, so that there is no confusion about things like prosecutions of responsibilities. 

Blackwater founder and former Navy SEAL, Erik Prince

There is this feeling in the PMCs community that they are still a fairly small and tightknit bunch were reputation is king, and all bad deeds spread like wildfire. In this way, they hold accountable their own internally, as in if a mercenary has notoriety, they will not be hired again. However, when individual opinion is the governing judge and jury, one can compare it to, ''how long is a piece of string?''. 

I think that if countries are depending more on these private services to provide security and support in a conflict area, or to train various army or law enforcement agencies, then there must be stronger regulations against what these actors can and cannot do. Without parameters, we can see that a lot of unfortunate things can go wrong. And, in my opinion, it also makes things easier for the companies that hire mercenaries, as they would know exactly what is awaited of them when they provide these services. In turn, also the mercenaries know what is the expectation from them when they are in these jobs and contributing to a conflict zones.  

References

• https://theintercept.com/2020/04/13/erik-prince-russia-mercenary-wagner-libya-mozambique/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(company)#1997:_Blackwater_USA
• https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/2031922/mercenaries-and-war-understanding-private-armies-today/
• https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/2031922/mercenaries-and-war-understanding-private-armies-today/
• https://silentprofessionals.org/blackwater/
• https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-dark-truth-about-blackwater/
• Doctors Without Borders - A Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law