Topic: Status of Defense Contractors and Non-National Combatants
Country: Paraguay
Delegate Name: Kieran O’Connell
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Paraguay position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
I. In recent conflicts around the world there have been an increasing number of non-national combatants or “mercenaries” engaging in combat. These combatants are not officially part of any armed forces and therefore are not subject to military rules and regulations. Since non-national combatants aren’t part of any national armed forces they often get away with war crimes. The question at hand is how these combatants are to be treated upon capture. Should they be treated as prisoners of war or criminals? It is also unclear what the distinction is between private, unofficial, and illegal enemy combatants. So far there have been only two conventions held to deal with the problem. The Geneva conventions and the U.N. Mercenary convention of 1989. These conventions, however, have not been very clear and leave many questions to be answered.
II. Paraguay wants to require all combatants and contractors to have identification linking them to the armed forces they are aligned with. Any registered non-national forces captured by opposing forces are to be treated as prisoners of war. Paraguay also wants all registered non-national combatants to have a clear international code of conduct that determines their place in armed conflict. It also supports an international plan that deals with the treatment of unregistered combatants. One condition that Paraguay requires in any international plan of unregistered combatants is that if they are captured they lose the right of prisoner of war status.
III. The countries most likely to support our policies are our MERCOSUR partners. Countries dealing with terrorist attacks against their militaries are also likely to support our policies because then terrorist groups can no longer claim that they should be treated as prisoners of war if they are captured. These countries can help us work out the details in our proposals and can also help get our policies into resolutions.
IV. We will be able to use the Geneva conventions and the U.N. Mercenary convention of 1989. Both of these resolutions have been ratified by numerous countries and have already been accepted as international law. We think our policies closely match these but are more specific and address a greater range of problems.
