Urgent actions
Get your MP to demand that the Foreign Secretary introduce legislation on Private Armies now
Please send a letter to your MP urging them to call on the Foreign Secretary to introduce legislation regulating private military and security companies as a matter of urgency.
An example of the letter to write is below. You can find out who your MP is from here: Dear _______ MP, There are currently tens of thousands of mercenaries working for private military and security companies (PMSCs) in Iraq outside legal or democratic control. Killings and human rights abuses by private armies in Iraq have dominated the headlines, and both the US and Iraqi governments are taking action to control these mercenary armies. Yet the UK government has failed to act, despite UK companies being some of the biggest players in the industry.
The UK government demonstrated that it was aware of the problems posed by PMSCs when it published a Green Paper in 2002. However, six years on it has failed to take forward any of the options presented in that Green Paper. The UK government must introduce legislation to control the PMSC sector, which must include a ban on mercenary involvement in combat. Self-regulation by the industry is not an option.
I urge you to call on the Foreign Secretary to introduce legislation to regulate private military and security companies as a matter of urgency.
Yours sincerely, ___________
» Take further action - ask your MP to sign EDM 785
