Growing use of mercenaries

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Report on mercenaries presented to human rights commission
United Nations press release HR/CN/764, 14 March 1997. Response to role of Executive Outcomes in Africa.
Soldiers for Sale
By Adam Zagorin, Time, 26 May 1997. The Cold War is over, but with demand for military muscle stronger than ever around the world, hired guns are going corporate. Relation with the arms trade. Executive Outcomes. Protection for social agencies. Some “military consultants” guilty of attrocities. A brief description of the top hired guns.
Mercenary Portraits—Everywhere 1
From CAQ, 17 December 1997. A brief description of three of the main mercenary organizations.
U.N.Convention Against Mercenaries Gathers Dust
By Thalif Deen, IPS, 19 October 1998. A U.N. convention against mercenaries, adopted by the General Assembly as far back as December 1989, is gathering dust for want of nations to ratify the document. Only 16 of the 22 ratifications needed to pass. Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Uruguay and Italy the only western states to have ratified or signed it. Rise of mercenaries has discouraged its ratification.
Mercenaries; Messiahs of Terror
By Issa A. Mansaray, ExpoTime (Freetown), 8 June 2001. Mercenaries sometimes help to fuel conflicts that offers them a source of income and can easily switch sides to the highest bidder in any war zone. Mercenaries' operations in Africa started in the 1960s. Today these “Messiahs of terror” and “dogs of war” want to be respected. Military freelancing is now widespread in the mounting numer of secondary wars. Civilians killed if it is too expensive to show they are not the enemy or kidnap childen to ensure their payment. The historic roots of mercenaries.