Event information

7 December 2022, 14:00-15:30

Private Military Companies and the Future of Conflict

Event

A Blackwater Security Company MD-530F helicopter aids in securing the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 4, 2004, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM A Blackwater Security Company MD-530F helicopter aids in securing the site of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 4, 2004, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Private military companies (PMCs) are playing an increasingly high-profile role in many conflict settings around the world. The war in Ukraine and evidence of Russian mercenaries in a growing number of countries, raise serious questions about accountability and remedy. Security companies, military contractors, mercenaries… what distinguishes these different categories of private actors? What role do PMCs play, can they operate responsibly, what are the laws applicable and how can they be held to account?

This panel discussion – co-organized with the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) and part of its Annual General Assembly – will consider the growing importance of PMCs and what role, if any, ICoCA, law and regulation might play in promoting human rights observance and strengthening accountability in what is often considered an opaque and disreputable industry.

Moderator

  • Jamie Williamson, Executive Director, ICoCA

Panelists

  • Gloria Gaggioli, Director, Geneva Academy and Associate/SNF Professor, University of Geneva
  • Alessandro Arduino, Principal Research Fellow, Middle East Institute (MEI), National University of Singapore and Associate, Lau China Institute, King’s College London
  • Sorcha MacLeod, Marie Curie Fellow and Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen and Chair, United Nations Working Group on Mercenaries
  • Ori Swed, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

IHL in Focus Spot Report News

Water Wars: How Sudan’s Conflict Weaponizes a Basic Human Need

4 August 2025

Our latest spot report explores how the targeting of water infrastructure is contributing to what is now considered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, affecting 30 million people.

Read more

neurotech image News

Research Brief Evaluates the Human Rights Implications of Neurotechnology in Therapeutic and Commercial Applications

27 March 2025

Our research brief, Neurotechnology and Human Rights: An Audit of Risks, Regulatory Challenges, and Opportunities, examines the human rights implications of neurotechnology in both therapeutic and commercial applications.

Read more

Special Rapporteur Sign Event

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in an Era of Escalating Armed Conflict: Where Can International Human Rights Law Help?

25 September 2025, 18:30-20:00

This evening dialogue will present the publication: International Human Rights Law: A Treatise, Cambridge University Press (2025).

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Neutrotechology Project

Neurotechnology and Human Rights

Started in August 2023

This project addresses the human rights implications stemming from the development of neurotechnology for commercial, non-therapeutic ends, and is based on a partnership between the Geneva Academy, the Geneva University Neurocentre and the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. 

Read more

Iraq, Mosul. View of the west bank after the war. Project

IHL in Focus

Started in January 2024

As a yearly publication, it keeps decision-makers, practitioners and scholars up-to-date with the latest trends and challenges in IHL implementation in over 100 armed conflicts worldwide – both international and non-international.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more