IPFS News Link • Mercenaries
The Privatization of War: Mercenaries, Private Military and Security Companies
• .Private military and security companies (PMSC) are the modern
reincarnation of a long lineage of private providers of physical force:
corsairs, privateers and mercenaries. Mercenaries, which had practically
disappeared during the XIXth and XXth centuries, reappeared in the
1960’s during the decolonization period operating mainly in Africa and
Asia. Under the United Nations a convention was adopted which outlaws
and criminalizes their activities. Additional Protocol I of the Geneva
Conventions also contains a definition of mercenary....