Source: http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Mercenaries
Timestamp: 2013-05-26 08:40:34
Document Index: 3661410

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art 47', 'Art 47', 'Art 47', 'Art 47', 'Art 47', 'Art 47']

Science Fair Projects - Mercenary
Categories: Military | Military people | Types of forces | Warfare | Private military contractors
Contents 1 Mercenaries and the laws of war
Mercenaries and the laws of war See also laws of war.
The legal status of civilian contractors depends upon the nature of their work and their nationality in respect of the combatants. But if they have not in fact, taken a direct part in the hostilities (APGC77 Art 47.b) they are not mercenaries and are entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions. The situation during the Occupation of Iraq 2003 – shows how difficult it is to define what a mercenary is. While the United States governed the country, any U.S. citizen who worked as a armed guard could not be called a mercenary because they were a national of a Party to the conflict (APGC77 Art 47.d). With the handover of power to the interim Iraqi government it could be argued that unless they declare that they are a resident in Iraq i.e. a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict (APGC77 Art 47.d), they are now mercenaries. If no trial of the people accused of being mercenaries takes place, then the allegations tend to evaporate in a spiral of accusations, denials and counter-accusations. It should be noted that Coalition soldiers in Iraq who are supporting the interim Iraqi government are not mercenaries, because either they are part of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict or they have been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces (APGC77 Art 47.f). See also privateer, Letter of marque, private military contractor.
Gurkhas and French Foreign Legionnaires are not mercenaries The two best known units in which nationals of a country serve in another nation's armed forces are the British Brigade of Gurkhas and the French Foreign Legion. Soldiers who serve in these two elite units are not mercenaries.
British Gurkhas are fully integrated soldiers of the British Army. They operate in formed units of the Brigade of Gurkhas and abide by the rules and regulations under which all British soldiers serve, [1]. (Similar rules apply for Gurkhas serving in the Indian Army.) French Foreign Legionnaires are in formed units of the French Foreign Legion which is deployed and fights as an organized unit of the French Army. This means that as member of the armed forces of Britain or France then under APGC77 Art 47.e and APGC77 Art 47.f they cannot be mercenaries.
Mercenaries and domestic law Some countries try to stop their citizens fighting in conflicts unless they are under the control of their own armed forces:
In 2003, France criminalized mercenary activities as defined by the protocol to the Geneva convention for French citizens, permanent residents and legal entities. (Penal Code, L436-1, L436-2, L436-3, L436-4, L436-5).
In 1998 South Africa passed the "Foreign Military Assistance Act" which banned citizens, or residents, from any involvement in foreign conflicts except in humanitarian operations unless a government commitee gave its approval for a deployment. In 2005 the legislation was being reviewed by the government because of South African citizens working as security guards in Iraq during the Iraq occupation and the fallout of the case against Mark Thatcher for the "possible funding and logistical assistance in relation to an alleged attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea" organised by Simon Mann.
Mercenary operations It is known that mercenaries have been hired to fight in the conflicts in former Yugoslavia. Many of these were ex-Eastern Bloc soldiers who had no employment opportunities after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Private military company (PMC) Private military companies are companies that provide logistics, manpower, and other expenditures for a military force. Their contractors are civilians authorized to accompany a force in the field.
In 2004 the industry was given a huge boost because PMCs were employed by the US and other coalition members to do security work in Iraq. An example of which is:
Blackwater USA Moyock, North Carolina, USA
Mercenaries in Africa 20th century
Particularly notorious mercenaries include: Mike Hoare was involved in the Congo Crisis in the early 1960s and a Seychelles failed coup in 1978.
Simon Mann was involved with Executive Outcomes ventures in Angola and Sierra Leone (see below). In 2004 he was found guilty in Zimbabwe of "attempting to buy weapons" (BBC August 27) allegedly for a coup in Equatorial Guinean (see below).
In the mid-1970s John Banks, a Briton, recruited mercenaries to fight for the National Front for the Liberation of Angola FNLA against the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the civil war that broke out when Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975. When captured, John Derek Barker's role as a leader of mercenaries in Northern Angola led the judges to send him to face the firing squad. Nine others were imprisoned. Three more were executed: American Daniel Gearhart was sentenced to death for advertising himself as a mercenary in an American newspaper; Andrew McKenzie and Costas Georgiou (the self styled "Colonel Callan"), who had both served in the British army, were sentenced to death for murder. American Bob MacKenzie was killed in the Malal Hills in February 1995 while commanding Gurkha Security Guards (GSG) in Sierra Leone. GSG pulled out soon afterwards and was replaced by Executive Outcomes. Both were employed by the Sierra Leone government as military advisers and to train the government soldiers. It has been alleged that the firms provided solders who to an active part in the fighting against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
The BBC reported on September 10, 2004 that in Zimbabwe:
Mercenaries in European history Mercenaries in the classic era
Memnon of Rhodes (380–333 BC): was the commander of the Greek mercenaries working for the Persian King Darius III when Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded Persia in 334 BC and won the Battle of the Granicus River. Alexander also employed Greek mercenaries during his campaings. These were men who fought for him directly and not those who fought in city-state units attached to his army.
In the late Roman Empire, it became increasingly difficult for Emperors and generals to raise military units from the citizenry for various reasons: lack of manpower, lack of time available for training, lack of materials, and, inevitably, political considerations. Therefore, beginning in the late 4th century, the empire often contracted whole bands of barbarians either within the legions or as autonomous foederati. The barbarians were Romanized and surviving veterans were established in areas requiring population. The Varangian Guard of the Eastern Roman Empire otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire is the best known formation made up of barbarian mercenaries. The future king Harald III of Norway, also known as Harald Hardrada ("Hardreign"), who arrived in Constantinople in 1035, was employed as a Varangian Guard. He participated in eighteen battles and became Akolythos, the commander, of the Guard before returning home in 1043. He was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by the army of King Harold Godwinson of England in 1066.
Byzantine Emperors followed the Roman practise and contracted foreigners especially for their personal corps guard called the Varangian Guard. They were chosen among war-prone peoples, of whom the Varangians (Vikings) and Anglo-Saxons were preferred. Their mission was to protect the Emperor and Empire and since they did not have links to the Greeks, they were expected to be ready to suppress rebellions. One of the most famous guards was the future king Harald III of Norway, also known as Harald Hardrada ("Hardreign"), who would die years after he had returned to Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 when his army was defeated by an English army commanded by King Harold Godwinson.
During the later middle ages, Free Companies (or Free Lances) were formed, consisting of companies of mercenary troops. Nation-states lacked the funds needed to maintain standing forces, so they tended to hire free companies to serve in their armies during wartime. Such companies typically formed at the ends of periods of conflict, when men-at-arms were no longer needed by their respective governments. The veteran soldiers thus looked for other forms of employment, often becoming mercenaries. Free Companies would often specialize in forms of combat that required longer periods of training that was not available in the from of a mobilized militia.
See also: Bertrand Duguesclin, White Company , Scottish clan.
Mercenaries in popular culture Like piracy, the mercenary ethos resonates with idealized adventure, mystery and danger. Examples of this are:
In science fiction, the well-known author Jerry Pournelle has written several books about science-fiction mercenaries known as Falkenberg's Legion. Also, author David Drake has written a number of books about the fictional hovercraft armored regiment Hammer's Slammers. Both series of books are brutal in their portrayal of complex low-intensity warfare despite technological advances.
In 2005, LucasArts released a game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox titled Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, where the player controls one of three mercenaries in North Korea, and is able to accept mercenary contracts from the Allies, South Korea, China, and the Russian Mafia. See also The Magnificent Seven, ronin, yojimbo, Battletech.
External links UNHCHR: Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on use of mercenaries
BBC on the trial in 1976 of the Angolan merceneries
CNN special on merceneries
London Independent (Sep 2 04): How oil brought the dogs of war back to Malabo
Glasgow Herald August 26 2004: "'Scratcher' and the battle for Guinea" by Allan Laing CNN August 25, 2004:MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (Reuters) Nick du Toit said he was introduced to Thatcher in South Africa last year by Simon Mann
BBC August 27 2004; Mann guilty of purchasing weapons
BBC Report on sentencing August 2004
Reuters: Feb 2005: South Africa to review mercenary law, targets Iraq Categories: Military | Military people | Types of forces | Warfare | Private military contractors