Charity urges mercenary crackdown

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A charity is calling for tighter British regulation of private security firms (PSCs) after a series of controversial incidents in Iraq.

War on Want says the US and Iraq are taking steps to regulate the industry and urges the UK to follow suit.

Staff from UK firm Erinys International shot and injured three Iraqis in October - a month after guards from US firm Blackwater killed 17 civilians.

The Foreign Office says there are binding rules governing PSCs in Iraq.

Multi-billion pound industry

In a briefing released to coincide with the second annual conference of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC) on Tuesday, War on Want says there has been a rapid expansion in the use of PSCs since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq.

Now a multi-billion pound industry, the private security sector employs as many as 20,000 people guarding installations such as oil pipelines and people such as military and diplomatic personnel in Iraq.

War on Want cites incidents of private guards being involved in fire fights with militia, says they regularly come under attack in Iraq and questions whether they are acting as security companies or as military forces.

The report says: "For Iraqis, there is no distinguishable difference between private armies and foreign troops except that the mercenaries are operating with impunity."

Self-regulation by the industry is not an option. Legislation must outlaw private military and security company involvement in all forms of direct combat and combat support understood in its widest possible senses War on Want

It says there is now an "urgent need to bring their activities under legal and democratic control", including a ban on the use of mercenaries in combat.

A 2002 government Green Paper suggested various options for regulating PSCs, including licensing some private firms to carry out duties such as peacekeeping.

War on Want says no legislation has since been proposed to regulate the industry.

The charity says: "Self-regulation by the industry is not an option. Legislation must outlaw private military and security company involvement in all forms of direct combat and combat support understood in its widest possible senses."

Rules on force

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "Private security companies work alongside British officers in Iraq to provide protection for HMG civilian personnel. Some are contracted to work as police advisers.

"The operation of private security companies in Iraq is regulated under CPA memorandum number 17, which sets out binding rules on the use of force. These rules apply to all security companies in Iraq."

BAPSC, which works to promote the interests of British PSCs, is calling for "effective self-regulation" for the industry.

Its website says: "As the need for armed security grows the BAPSC and its members recognise that their objectives will best be achieved through effective self regulation in partnership with the UK Government and international organisations."

The UN has called for private security contractors in Iraq to face prosecution if they are accused of serious crimes. It says they are subject to international law, despite being given immunity by a US directive following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Iraqi ministers are planning legislation that would strip foreign security personnel in Iraq of this protection.

And a Bill passed by the US House of Representatives in the wake of the Blackwater shootings allows for private security contractors to face prosecution in the US if they are accused of crimes.