Non-state Actors and Outsourcing of Military Functions in Armed Conflict: Private Contractors under International Humanitarian Law

The proliferation of non-state actors in contemporary armed conflicts is a challenge for the implementation of international humanitarian law. Among these actors, private contractors have taken on a special role for the tasks performed and the personnel deployed in conflict areas, to the extent that their presence has become almost indispensable. But this prominence is posing, among other problems, the need to define the legal regime to which they subject these companies and their personnel in order to end the legal uncertainty surrounding their activities. This situation has led in practice to have benefited from de facto impunity because of the difficulties for prosecution in cases of crimes committed during the provision of their services. Therefore, we must insist that there is no legal vacuum around these companies although at present there are no specific rules governing its activities. Indeed, international humanitarian law provides the appropriate legal framework to regulate the tasks carried out by these companies in armed conflicts. Although ius in bello not specifically regulate private military and security companies, nor the status of their personnel, contains rules and principles that define the rights and obligations of their employees, especially when providing armed services, and define the scope of their responsibility. Therefore, these companies must take steps to ensure compliance with these rules, because otherwise incur responsibility that extends to managers, directors and administrators.