HRC63 - EU Statement - Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

63^rd session

Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries

14 September 2026

EU statement

Thank you, Chair

The EU thanks the Working Group for its report on technology-enabled mercenarism.

We share the Working Group's concern that mercenaries, mercenary-related actors and private military and security companies are exploiting artificial intelligence, surveillance, spyware and social media to facilitate serious human rights violations, including against human rights defenders, journalists and minorities, while evading accountability through opaque corporate and financial structures.

Mercenaries are specifically defined under international humanitarian law. As we have previously highlighted, the Working Group's work would be more effective if its scope focused more clearly on mercenaries and mercenary-related activities, while avoiding conflation with private military and security companies. This distinction remains essential as the Working Group's analysis extends further into the technology sector.

The EU recalls that these concerns are not abstract. State-linked mercenary actors continue to operate in several contexts, including in Ukraine and across Africa, and the technologies described in the report increase both their reach and the difficulty of attributing responsibility.

Chair-Rapporteur,

Given the report's finding that layered supply chains and opaque ownership structures obstruct attribution, what concrete due diligence benchmarks would the Working Group recommend to States and companies to close this "responsibility gap" while preserving legitimate commercial confidentiality?

I thank you.