Event information

7 December 2022, 14:00-15:30

Private Military Companies and the Future of Conflict

Event

A Blackwater Security Company MD-530F helicopter aids in securing the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 4, 2004, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM A Blackwater Security Company MD-530F helicopter aids in securing the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 4, 2004, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Private military companies (PMCs) are playing an increasingly high-profile role in many conflict settings around the world. The war in Ukraine and evidence of Russian mercenaries in a growing number of countries, raise serious questions about accountability and remedy. Security companies, military contractors, mercenaries… what distinguishes these different categories of private actors? What role do PMCs play, can they operate responsibly, what are the laws applicable and how can they be held to account?

This panel discussion – co-organized with the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) and part of its Annual General Assembly – will consider the growing importance of PMCs and what role, if any, ICoCA, law and regulation might play in promoting human rights observance and strengthening accountability in what is often considered an opaque and disreputable industry.

Moderator

  • Jamie Williamson, Executive Director, ICoCA

Panelists

  • Gloria Gaggioli, Director, Geneva Academy and Associate/SNF Professor, University of Geneva
  • Alessandro Arduino, Principal Research Fellow, Middle East Institute (MEI), National University of Singapore and Associate, Lau China Institute, King’s College London
  • Sorcha MacLeod, Marie Curie Fellow and Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen and Chair, United Nations Working Group on Mercenaries
  • Ori Swed, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

bombed building News

Expert Consultation on CESCR’s General Comment on ICESCR in Armed Conflict

8 May 2025

The Geneva Academy convened an expert consultation on the CESCR’s General Comment on the Application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Situations of Armed Conflict.

Read more

Mô Bleeker News

UNSG Special Adviser Mô Bleeker Becomes Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy

15 April 2025

Mô Bleeker, UNSG Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, shares how her work as Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy contributes to our shared goals.

Read more

Warzone Event

Advanced IHL Seminar for Academics and Policymakers

25-29 August 2025, 09:00-17:30

Co-hosted with the ICRC, this event aims to enhance the capacity of academics to teach and research international humanitarian law, while also equipping policymakers with an in-depth understanding of ongoing legal debates.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

Practical Training on Human Rights Council Procedures for SIDS/LDCs

4-5 June 2025

This hands-on training is designed specifically for diplomats from Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries who are current or prospective members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

Read more

Iraq, Mosul. View of the west bank after the war. Project

IHL in Focus

Started in January 2024

As a yearly publication, it keeps decision-makers, practitioners and scholars up-to-date with the latest trends and challenges in IHL implementation in over 100 armed conflicts worldwide – both international and non-international.

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

War on Minorities’ Under the Guise of Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism

published on December 2024

Beatrice Meretti

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

Navigating Pathways Toward Transitional Justice in Ukraine

published on October 2024

Robin van der Lugt, Chhime Namdol Sherpa

Read more