Mercenaries
MERCENARIES
fight for money not for freedom, not for love of country nor for anything that
makes death worthwhile or magical. Mercenaries fight for nothing more than
personal gain. Coming from the Latin word mercenaries, a mercenary is someone
who will do anything for money.
There
was the Lafayette Escadrille that
joined the French Air Service almost
a year before America entered WW1. There was also the Flying Tigers that fought
for China against the Japanese before America entered WW2. However, their role
as mercenaries is controversial since it appears that they had the secret
backing of their home government, the United States of
America.
Today,
there is a proliferation of mercenaries; an example is the South African-based
Executive Outcomes, a "contractor" that fought in Angola and Sierra Leone.
Blackwater, also a "contractor" of men at arms, was also involved in
Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In
the Russia-Ukraine conflict,
Ukraine has formed an International
Brigade to fight for its territorial
defense, consisting of volunteers of various nationalities similar to the
International Brigade that fought alongside Republicans during the Spanish
Civil War (1936-1939). In the context of the Geneva Conventions,
are the people enlisting in Ukraine's International Brigade mercenaries? I
would say that those fighting on the side of Ukraine, even if they were
promised citizenship after the war, cannot be categorized as mercenaries. They
are not being paid to fight because Ukraine does not have money to pay them.
They joined the fray for ideals not currency. They are even being asked to
bring their own bulletproof vests, uniforms and combat boots.
Why should there be a distinction between mercenaries and regular soldiers? It all boils down to their status as combatants.
Read: Putin's war in Ukraine and the lessons of history
When
a person who is not entitled to prisoner of war (POW) status is captured, he
may be tried for murder, espionage, or arson under the municipal law of the
offended State. He may be treated as a common criminal and confined in a common
jail, and if the crime he committed is punishable by death, he may be shot or
hanged from the tallest tree. No protection nor privileges available to POWs
under the Geneva Conventions may be given to mercenaries.
Article
47 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions of June 8, 1977, speaks
of mercenaries:
1.
A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2.
A mercenary is any person who was recruited locally or abroad in order to fight
in an armed conflict and take a direct part in the hostilities. He is motivated
by the desire for private gain and is promised material compensation
substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank
and functions in the armed forces for which he will fight.
Read: US to Russia: Call off Ukraine attack
3.
He is not a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of a territory
controlled by a Party to the conflict and is not a member of its armed forces
and has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on
official duty as a member of its armed forces.
Soldiers
who are recognized by the State in the conflict and are integrated as part of
its armed forces, although such soldiers are foreigners, are not to be treated
as mercenaries. Members of the French Foreign Legion, composed mostly of
foreigners recruited to fight France's
wars, are not mercenaries since they are recognized by France, are led by
French officers, and may be given French citizenship after service of five
years. The same holds true for the Gurkhas of Nepal. Armed with their issued
firearms and their fearsome kukris, the Gurkhas are recognized by the United
Kingdom as part of their fighting forces and are, therefore, not mercenaries.
In 2020, British newspapers carried news
of a man who died in his bed in Durban, South Africa, at the age of 100. After
legitimate service with the British Army in the Second World War, the
centenarian became an accountant and later a soldier of fortune. He was
"Mad Mike" Hoare, a notorious mercenary who was responsible for the
death of more than 5,000 Congolese and who once said that "killing
communists is like killing vermin, killing African nationalists is like killing
animals."
The raising of armies to fight against
tyranny is laudable, but if an army is raised to fight for personal gain, the
entire equation is changed. They become dangerous not only to their enemies,
but also to their allies because their loyalty is for sale.
Read: Will Russia bring Syrian
fighters to Ukraine?
The greatest tragedy of a mercenary is not
that he kills, for all wars are entitled to its fair amount of killing, but he
does not have any other purpose to go to war but to earn his pay.
(The Manila Times, April 2, 2022)