September 16, 2019
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Disarmament & International Security Committee

Private Military Contractors

Union of Myanmar 

Shiva Rajan

Forest Hills Eastern

 

Private military contractors have been the cause to many abuses. The PMC is a private company which provides security and combat for financial gain, and although thy provide security they have caused many problems and are responsible for many conflicts. For example, they used methods of torture like electrical shocks and sexual assualts against Iraqi prisoners in 2003 for a financial gain. Another example of abuse from PMC is the Nisour Square Massacre, this massacre killed 17 and injured 20 Iraqi civilians. In 1990 the ratio between military personal and PMC was 50 to 1, but now the ratio is 10 to 1, this shows the increase of private military contractors in one decade. In 2006 it was estimated that there were at least 100 thousand private military personnel in Iraq. 

 

Although private military contractors help sustain peace, they are contempt to the civilians rights. An example of the private military contractors abusing civilians rights and lives is at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Private military contractors tortured Iraqi prisoners with electrical shocks and sexual assault, and another example of civilian abuse is the Nisour Square Massacre. In the event of this massacre, Blackwater Security Consulting killed 17 and injured 20 more Iraqi civilians. Myanmar is taking steps towards fixing this crisis by attempting to incorporate regulations to private military contractors.

 

In order to achieve the goal of decreasing abuse from private military contractors, there must be rules and regulations to the use of contractors, and to achieve this goal the global community must perform to create these regulations and limits. The UN Mercenary Convention was a step towards directing this issue, but additional work must be done to address and set limits to private military contractors. 

 

  • Shiva Rajan