DCAF paper on private military firms
Nils Rosemann has just written a paper* on regulating private military firms for the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), “Code of Conduct: Tool for Self-Regulation for Private Military and Security Companies“.
Here’s a bit from the section on why regulation is “in the interest of corporations”:
Following enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act a result of the Enron crisis in the USA, corporations are adopting Codes of Conduct [CoC] with ever greater frequency to prove to the world at large that they are implementing their legal duties as a corporation. Compliance also makes them more attractive in the capital market, since there is also an increasing number of sustainability indices, attracting an ever growing level of investment. One example of the growth of investment in accordance with ethical or ecological standards, rather than entirely profit-oriented, is the FTSE4Good index series. Disinvestment campaigns are another approach, in relation to Sudan for example. Companies that expressly accept a CoC not infrequently use their acceptance to project a better image and to limit criticism of their activities. (Section 7.1 p. 25).
Thought-provoking analogies.
An Annex offers a proposed Code of Conduct. It begins by stating:
While governments have the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights, this Code of Conduct obliges PMSC to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights and international humanitarian law.
That seems reasonable.
Another section stipulates that private military and security firms should “provide a safe and healthy working environment”. Ok, that’s just silly given that they are hired because the environment often is unsafe…and smoking a cigarette should be a perk in those circumstances : )
It also talks about collective bargaining, corruption, whistleblowers, not abusing child labor laws, not committing murder, gender sensitivity. It’s kind of an amalgam of civil rights, OSHA, IHL, and the 10 commandments — all aimed at corporate personnel, outside the State, who are hired to work in dangerous areas, often on behalf of the State to keep State employees alive. It’s certainly a giant leap over the old “Leviathan world” model but it still makes my head hurt a bit.
