25
Nov
2021
Watch
Human rights violations by private military and security companies, particularly the Wagner Group
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the first thing to understand about the Wagner Group is that there is most likely no Wagner Group, there is not a single company registered under this name, but rather a network of entities interconnected with the Russian state and military system and connected to each other through overlapping ownership and logistical networks. Their nature offers a very difficult challenge for state entities that do not always have all the right tools to deal with the risks posed by the activity of these contractors. All the various initiatives aimed at developing clear and binding international legal standards restricting and regulating these activities are therefore essential. The EU must strongly support the UN Intergovernmental Working Group in its draft regulatory framework for private companies, making sure that this document is ambitious and that its timely implementation leads to supporting the efforts of all national and international jurisdictions to initiate criminal proceedings to hold all these PMSCs accountable for the very serious human rights violations they often commit. In the presence of clear and transparent rules we will finally have those tools necessary to finally make concrete the contrast to what apparently seem ghosts, but which in reality are simply hidden in the folds of our systems.