Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service )- Should the UN hire peacekeeping troops from Private Military Companies? This question was put by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General to a group of experts whom he asked to examine the possibility of using mercenaries soldiers from Private Military Companies (PMC) for United Nations’ peace keeping operations. The Global Security Partnership Project composed of 16 members and led by two English men and one Canadian will look at how the United Nations Organisation can best lead peacekeeping operations in the 21st century.
UN officials have admitted that results obtained by UN peacekeepers are not always satisfactory. Ever more frequently these soldiers wearing the UN uniform are from poor countries.
They are not always suitably trained or equipped: moreover it is difficult for UN peacekeepers to deploy promptly in a crisis zone which is when their presence would avoid a deterioration of the situation.
PMCs comprise former army men, many with experience in western elite military corps, their structure is agile and they are able to act quickly. But there is reserve with regard to the legal, political and moral points of view of employing modern mercenaries for UN peacekeeping missions, particularly because some PMCs have close financial and operative connections with mining companies operating in those very countries where UN “private” peacekeepers would be sent to keep the peace. (L.M.) (Fides Service 10/11/2003, lines 21 words 240)
