A/HRC/7/7 page 21 − A labyrinth of contractual and insurance layers. Transnational PMSCs, their national subsidiaries, subcontracted companies or private employment agencies select, recruit and train former military and policemen as “security guards” from all over the world to be sent to zones of low-intensity conflict. PMSCs having obtained a contract from the United States State Department or the Department of Defense generally subcontract to another company which in turn may subcontract to another one or contract a private employment agency in a given country establishing thus a number of contractual layers which is difficult to disentangle. In general, the individual engaged signs a contract with a company which is not registered in his country and which he discovers once he arrives in the zone of armed conflict. To this labyrinth there is the additional complexity of layers of insurance brokers and insurance companies to obtain a compensation for an injury or the death of a private contractor. Often, private security companies registered in the United States do not make the contract under the United States Defense Base Act with an insurance broker as they are under obligation to. It has also been reported that insurance brokers would only pay immediately 30 per cent of the claims and the rest of the claims not until an administrative tribunal compels them; − Enforcement and jurisdiction of the contracts. The individuals signing their contracts with PMSCs renounce important rights such as the jurisdiction of their national courts. The contracts are governed by the laws of a given state in the United States of America or elsewhere. In addition, the individual accepts a declaration renouncing some of his legal rights. These individuals are recruited as “security guards”, but thereafter they received military training and are engaged in an armed conflict. Contracts are signed either immediately upon departure or upon arrival in the country of destination; − Training of the private security guards. In some cases training of the private security guards has been made in military premises in the country the individuals have been recruited or in the premises of the PMSC in the United States. In general, however, military training has been conducted in other countries in order to avoid legal complaints from the authorities of the country from where the individuals have been recruited. Jordan, Afghanistan and Iraq seem to be the places where such military training has been carried out, but also a number of Chileans were trained in Honduras; − Human rights violations and lack of accountability. PMSCs are often operating outside government control and with limited effective oversight from State organs. When involved in crimes or human rights violations, these private security guards have often not been sanctioned or brought before a court of justice, as exemplified by the involvement of contractors in the torture scandal in Abu Ghraib and shootings against civilians in Iraq.74 As observed in many incidents, PMSC employees can use excessive 74 A/61/341, para. 69. See also David Phinney, “From mercenaries to peacemakers?”, 29 November 2005, www.corpwatch.org; Steve Fainaru, “For Hired Guns”, Washington Post, 15 April 2007; J. Scahill, “A very private war”, The Guardian, 1 August 2007; R. Norton-Taylor, “Afghanistan Close to Anarchy: Warns a General”, The Guardian, 21 July 2006.