UK ‘licence to kill for private armies’ slammed

War on Want

Government condemned for failure to regulate private military and security companies

War on Want today condemned the British government for giving UK private military and security companies a licence to kill by refusing to regulate the industry. Campaigners from the charity demonstrated this morning outside the annual conference of the British Association of Private Security Companies in London. One activist dressed as UK prime minister Gordon Brown handed over money to “armed” mercenaries.

War on Want protested against government plans to let private military and security companies police themselves, despite widespread human rights abuses by mercenary troops. The demonstration came as the government is due to announce the outcome of consultation on its proposal for a voluntary code of conduct overseen by the BAPSC, the industry body.

A keynote speech at the conference was made by John Reid, the former UK defence and home secretary, now a £50,000 group consultant to G4S, including ArmorGroup, hired by the British government in Afghanistan and Iraq. ArmorGroup hit the headlines in August when one of its contractors shot and killed two colleagues in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

The protest took place only days after the second anniversary of an incident in Iraq when guards from the British private military and security firm Erinys International fired on a taxi, badly wounding three Iraqi civilians near Kirkuk

Amid hundreds of cases of human rights abuse by mercenaries, War on Want is spearheading the campaign for tough legislation, including a ban on their use in combat and combat support. The charity is calling for all PMSCs to be subjected to individual parliamentary approved licences. It is also demanding for any government ministry which outsources a service to a PMSC to be held responsible for the firm’s conduct and for all allegations of human rights abuses by contractors working for PMSCs to be independently investigated.

As the war in Afghanistan escalates and UK prime minister Gordon Brown prepares to send more British troops to the country, War on Want warns that the government is spending millions of pounds on PMSCs and risking civilian lives in Afghanistan by failing to regulate the industry.

Yasmin Khan, senior campaigns officer at the charity, said: “The government has ignored all regulatory options in favour of a voluntary code of conduct for private armies. This is giving a licence to kill to private military and security companies. The proposed voluntary code of conduct flies in the face of the growing consensus on the need to regulate this deadly industry. More lives in war zones will be put at risk unless the government acts to regulate private armies now”

The UK government has spent £148 million on PMSC contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last three years. The government currently has contracts with PMSCs in Afghanistan worth more than £42 million from the beginning of 2008 to the end of this year, more than twice the figure for Iraq in the same period.

With Britain having the second largest PMSC industry in the world. UK private military and security firms now operating in Afghanistan include Olive, PAGE associates, Saladin Security, AEGIS, ArmorGroup, Blue Hackle, Control Risks Group, Edinburgh International, Global Security and IDG Security.

NOTE

* The BAPSC was established in 2006 as an industry association body that works to promote the interests of private military and security companies. The conference will also hear keynote addresses from the former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Andy Hayman and Sir Jeremy Greenstock ex-UK special representative to Iraq

* Earlier this year the government published a consultation on its proposed voluntary code for PMSCs. It has so far failed to announced the results of the consultation.