The United Nations Mercenary Convention, officially the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, is a 2001 United Nations treaty that prohibits the recruitment, training, use, and financing of mercenaries. At the 72nd plenary meeting on 4 December 1989, the United Nations General Assembly concluded the convention as its resolution 44/34. The convention entered into force on 20 October 2001 and has been ratified by 38 states.
The convention extends on the Geneva Conventions Protocol I which in Article 47(1) states that a mercenary cannot be a lawful combatant or prisoner of war.
Articles of the Convention Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8
Article 9
Article 10
Article 11
Article 12
Article 13
Article 14
Article 15
Article 16
Article 17
Article 18
Article 19
Article 20
Article 21
Signatories and parties As of August 2021, the convention had been ratified by 38 states, and signed but not ratified by 9 states.
Below are the states that have signed, ratified or acceded to the convention. Country Signing date Ratification date Notes Italy February 5, 1990 August 21, 1995 Ivory Coast January 2, 2025 Seychelles March 12, 1990 Zaire March 20, 1990 Signed as Zaire; successor state is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nigeria April 4, 1990 Maldives July 17, 1990 September 11, 1991 P.R. Congo July 20, 1990 Signed as the People's Republic of the Congo; successor state is the Republic of the Congo. Ukraine September 21, 1990 September 13, 1993 Signed as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Morocco October 5, 1990 Suriname February 27, 1990 August 10, 1990 Uruguay November 20, 1990 July 14, 1999 Germany December 12, 1990 Barbados December 13, 1990 July 10, 1992 Belarus December 13, 1990 May 28, 1997 Signed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Romania December 17, 1990 Cameroon December 21, 1990 January 1, 1996 Poland December 28, 1990 Togo February 25, 1991 Angola December 28, 1990 Cyprus July 8, 1993 Georgia June 8, 1995 Turkmenistan September 18, 1996 Azerbaijan April 12, 1997 Saudi Arabia April 14, 1997 With reservations. Uzbekistan January 19, 1998 Mauritania February 9, 1998 Qatar March 26, 1999 Senegal July 9, 1999 Croatia March 27, 2000 Libya September 22, 2000 Signed as the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Serbia March 12, 2001 January 14, 2016 Signed as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Costa Rica September 20, 2001 Mali April 12, 2002 Belgium May 5, 2002 With reservations. Guinea June 18, 2003 New Zealand September 22, 2004 Liberia September 16, 2005 Moldova February 28, 2006 With reservations. Montenegro October 23, 2006 Peru March 23, 2007 Cuba September 2, 2007 Syria January 19, 2008 With reservations. Venezuela November 12, 2013 Ecuador December 12, 2016 Equatorial Guinea January 21, 2019 Honduras April 1, 2008 Armenia November 23, 2020 With reservations. Several of the states that ratified the agreement are however signatories of the Montreux document which on the contrary of the afore-written convention, does not make illegal the use of mercenaries but gives a document about the use of mercenaries including "good practises", the agreement having no sanctions or legal constraints tied to it.
See also
Montreux Document – a non-constraining agreement between countries about Mercenary use with a side legal volley about non-military private security. Private military company Unlawful combatant § Mercenaries
References
External links Text of the convention, list of signatories Procedural history and related documents on the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law