In framework of permanent cooperation with United Nations’ bodies our Association sent submission to the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries in February for its report to the UN General Assembly’s 80th Session.
This Group’s research will be devoted to highlighting the ways in which mercenaries, mercenary related actors, and private military and security companies are used as proxies, enablers, and facilitators, in situations of armed conflict, covert intelligence, military, security, financial, and economic operations, and the transfer of resources and illicit goods.
As our experts stated in the submission, published in UN official web-sources now, Russian occupation of the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, the subsequent full-scale invasion to Ukraine by Russia, and the crimes committed by Russia’s military and mercenaries against civilians, raised the question of codifying such terms as “criminal state” and “terrorist state” in international law .
Association reminded on Judgment of International Court of Justice, concluded on 31 January, 2024 in case of Ukraine v. Russia on application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which established that Russia has violated its obligations under Article 9, paragraph 1, of that Convention after 2014.
Association’s submission reminded that Russia uses illegally own bank system to finance mercenaries on Russia-occupied territory of Ukraine, using as “Sberbank”, “International Settlement Bank” and “Promsvyazbank”, also as implemening the financial machinations the structures of illegal “Post of Crimea” in Russia-occupied Crimea, parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, also as illegal “Post of Donbas” in East of Ukraine, as de-facto structure units of “Post of Russia”.
Submission stressed about illegal “Wagner Group” activities in issues of illegal cargo and illicit goods trafficking in 2022-2023 from and to the Sevastopol ship repair plant” “Persey”, as de facto private maritime port. Such maritime trafficking from and to Russia-occupied Sevastopol covered Syria, Lebanon and Libya ports and included arm and drug trafficking, Association’s submission added. Our cooperation witn UN Working Group will be continued.
