Private military & security companies

See also:

- Bulletin on private military & security companies and their impacts on human rights - recent developments

- Montreux document on Private Military and Security Companies

- International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers

- UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries

• Ukraine: US Govt. & Academi deny media reports claiming military company involved in conflict, RIA Novosti, 15 May 2014

• Panel event on use of private military & security companies by UN (Geneva, Switzerland), Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries, 5 Mar 2014

• Global Policy Forum reports on UN use of private military & security companies allegedly involved in human rights abuses; responses by Askar Security, Delta Protection & G4S
  Global Policy Forum, Feb 2014
  
  OECD to examine G4S' alleged supply of surveillance kit to Israeli security services at checkpoints in Palestine, Independent, 7 Jan 2014

• [PDF] UK Govt. encourages security companies working in complex environments abroad to become members of Intl. Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers Association, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 15 Oct 2013
• 
  [PDF] Academic paper on human rights and intl. humanitarian law implications of the use of private military & security companies in the “war on drugs” in Mexico and Colombia, European University Institute (Italy), 1 Oct 2013

• US Justice Dept. brings new charges of voluntary manslaughter against former Blackwater guards over 2007 Baghdad shooting, Washington Post, 17 Oct 2013

• Afghanistan: Presence of private security companies contributes to ongoing violence, says analyst, Mint Press News, 16 Oct 2013

• UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries & UN Monitoring Group on Somalia & Eritrea raise human rights concerns about Sterling Corporate Services' operations in Somalia, UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, UN Monitoring Group on Somalia & Eritrea, Jul - Dec 2012

- Sterling Corporate Services response

• UK Govt. adopts ASIS standard for private security service providers overseas
  ASIS International, 20 Dec 2012

• Activists concerned that Shell's increased security spending in Delta region fuels human rights abuses
  Private military & security firms allegedly benefit from security spending linked to human rights abuses
  Platform, Guardian (UK), Aug 2012
  - Full Platform report
  - Control Risks response
  - Erinys Intl. response
  - G4S response
  - Saladin declined to respond
• UN criticized for growing use of private security firms
  Associated Press, 11 Jul 2012
  - G4S response
  - DynCorp response

• Sexual violence by private military contractors remains a problem
  David Isenberg in Huffington Post, 30 Jan 2012
  - DynCorp responds to concerns raised

• Switzerland: Govt. wants to tighten rules for private security companies & ban Swiss-based companies from direct participation in armed conflicts abroad
  Frederic Merat, Associated Press, 12 Oct 2011

• Outsourcing to private security contractors threatens rights, UN panel warns
  UN News Centre, 14 Sep 2011

• Mercenaries, mercenarism and human rights
  Melik Özden, CETIM'Human Rights Programme and Permanent representative to the UN

• US Supreme Court seeks Obama administration's advice on appeal in CACI/L-3 Titan lawsuit regarding Abu Ghraib prison abuses
  Greg Stohr, Bloomberg, 4 Oct 2010

• Mercenaries: United Nations experts final go at new international convention draft
  United Nations, 9 Apr 2010

• Blackwater fallout: Senate moves to rein in military contractors [USA]
  GordonLubold, Christian Science Monitor (USA), 24 Feb 2010

• Good News for Blackwater is Bad News for Industry
  [commentary] David Isenberg, Huffington Post, 31 Dec 2009

• East Africans working for US security firms in war zone
  East African, 23 Nov 2009

• Colombia: Regulating Private Military and Security Companies in a “Territorial State”
  Irene Cabrera & Antoine Perret, Externado University of Colombia, 15 Nov 2009

• International humanitarian law and PMSCs: frequently asked questions
  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 15 Sep 2008

• Prosecutors in Iraq Case See Pattern by Guards
  James Risen, New York Times, 13 Sep 2009

• U.S. court dismisses Iraqi contractor torture case [re. Abu Ghraib]
  James Vicini, Reuters, 11 Sep 2009

• Rules for the use of force - IPOA strives to create an industry-standard template [scroll to pg. 39]
  Natalie Ng, Journal of International Peace Operations, May - Jun 2009

• Iraq victims sue UK security firm [includes company response]
  Mark Townsend, Observer (UK), 11 Jan 2009

• Uprising in Angola targets Leviev diamond mining company
  Adalah-NY, 16 Oct 2008

• KBR's Rape Problem
  Karen Houppert, Nation, 17 Apr 2008

• Why private security companies are essential in post-conflict Iraq
  Andy Bearpark, First Director General of British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC), 02 Mar 2008

• Iraq contractors tap Latin America's needy
  Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan 2008

• Private security contractors look to Africa for recruits
  Stephanie Hanes, Christian Science Monitor, 8 Jan 2008

• Human Rights First, “Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity”: company responses & non-responses
  Jan 2008

• Iraq - Blackwater incident "Selection of articles & commentaries published shortly after Blackwater shooting in Iraq"
  16 Sep 2007

• Corporate Mercenaries - The threat of private military and security companies [includes company response]
  War on Want, 30 Oct 2006

Related lawsuit

• Blackwater USA lawsuit (re 16 Sep 2007 Baghdad incident)

• Abu Ghraib lawsuits against CACI, Titan (now L-3) alleging torture of prisoners