Feral Jundi

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Publications: GPF Report On Private Military And Security Companies And The UN

This one is a hard read, just because it is filled with bias against this industry. lol But if you can look beyond that junk and check out some of the details in the back of paper, they list some interesting stuff. Especially what companies the UN has used and currently uses, and how much money all of the UN programs have been spending on private security. Each year, it has been going up.

Now I agree with the authors that the UN should do everything in it’s power to hire quality companies that are vetted, and that these companies have appropriate rules and regulations guiding their use of force and whatnot. All of that is very important.

But I disagree with the authors view that companies are questionable in their ability to ‘help the U.N. promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights’. Especially when some of the military units that the UN has used has only hurt their image and their ability to promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights. It is disgraceful how poorly some of the military units that the UN has used in the past have acted–or not acted.

Either way, I believe private industry can and will do a far more superior job for the UN, and the UN will continue to contract the services of these companies. The amount of money they have spent on security has only increased from year to year, and the world is not getting any more safer. The UN does have a duty to responsibly contract these services–and god forbid, learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others. lol It is all about actually caring about getting a good value for the money given to them by donor nations, and exercising their right as the client to actually fire bad companies. Pure principal-agent problem stuff here.

Also, I think as ISO standards come onto the scene, this will only help the UN in determining qualified vendors. We have had 10 plus years of war time contracting, and these companies are pretty experienced in providing a service in poor and unstable environments throughout the world. These companies are willing and able to enter into these risky jobs and that says a lot as well. I think the UN would be dumb to not tap into this resource, and especially as money becomes tighter and the world continues to have conflict. –Matt

 

Dangerous Partnership – Private Military and Security Companies and the UN
( GPF Policy Papers, Articles and Statements )
GPF’s report on the use of Private Military and Security Companies by the United Nations is out! This investigative report reveals that the UN has dramatically increased its use of these companies in recent years, hiring them for a wide array of “security services” and giving them considerable influence over its security policies. It also reveals that the UN has no process to vet these companies and that UN leadership has been closing its eyes to company misconduct for more than twenty years. GPF calls on the UN to reform this out-of-control system and to critically examine whether these companies really make the UN safer, or whether they might achieve the opposite effect. You can read the executive summary and the full report.

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UN criticized for using private security companies
July 11, 2012
By EDITH M. LEDERER
A non-profit organization that monitors the United Nations published a report Tuesday criticizing the U.N.’s growing use of private military and security companies.
The Global Policy Forum said the U.N.’s increasing use of these companies is “dangerous,” may increase rather than reduce threats and attacks on U.N. buildings and personnel, and suggests a system that is “unaccountable and out of control.”

(more…)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Podcasts: Private Security Contractors And The U.N.-Global Policy Forum

     I thought this was interesting, because the whole intent of the discussion was to highlight the fact that the UN is using private security contractors and at the same time, the UN is tasked with defining how countries are to use and regulate private security contractors. Hell, they even put together a group called the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries(UNWG).  The title of the group should give you some indication of the irony here.

     So my question is this.  Does the UNWG classify the security contractors that the UN uses as mercenaries?  Does the UNWG classify the UN’s private security contractors as lawful combatants? Check out what the IPOA feels about the whole thing here, and this should give you some context before listening to these guys.

   Finally, there are other speakers at this forum, and follow the link below if you would like to listen to them as well. –Matt

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Private Security Contractors and the UN – May 19, 2010

From the Global Policy Forum Website

On 19th May 2010, GPF hosted a lunchtime discussion on Private Security Contractors and their involvement with the United Nations….

 …..In January 2010, the UN announced it would hire a British private security firm to protect its staff in Afghanistan. This contradicted past statements made by UN officials that condemned PSCs and argued against their use.  As the UN’s relationship with PSCs changes, some crucial questions need answering: how many private security contractors does the UN hire? What does the UN hire PSCs for? What means are being used to monitor them?  And more generally, can the UN be used as a vehicle to make PSCs accountable for their actions?

The Draft International Convention on the Regulation, Oversight and Monitoring Of Private Military and Security Companies has been circulating since 2009, with a UN working group prepared to announce the results of its consultations in September 2010. But even if the UN is able to ratify a convention, does it have the capacity to enforce it?

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Click here to listen to James Cockayne, Part One

Jame Cockayne was the first speaker at GPF’s event on Private Security Contractors and the United Nations.  Cockayne addresses three things in his speech: does the United Nations use private security contractors; what policy does the UN have towards private security contractors; and how can the UN, in the future, use strong policy to better regulate private security contractors.

Click here to listen to James Cockayne, Part Two

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Click here to listen to Scott Horton – Part One

Scott Horton was the second speaker at this event.  Horton’s experiences as a journalist and New York attornee, gave valuable insight to the role Private Security Contractors play in global conflict.  Horton focussed particuarly on the PSCs and the use of unmanned drones.

Click here to listen to Scott_Horton – Part Two

Link to Global Policy Forum here.

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