A/HRC/42/42/Add.2 Annex Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination on its visit to Austria I. Introduction 1. The Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination visited Austria from 21 to 29 June 2018, at the invitation of the Government. The delegation comprised two members of the Working Group, Gabor Rona (Chairperson-Rapporteur) and Saeed Mokbil, accompanied by staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2. In accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/2 and Human Rights Council resolution 33/4, the Working Group is mandated to study and identify sources, causes, manifestations and trends with regard to mercenaries and mercenaryrelated activities, and their impact on human rights, particularly on the right to selfdetermination. The Working Group is also mandated to monitor the activities of private military and security companies and their effects on human rights. 3. Since 2014, the Working Group has explored the linkages between the phenomena of foreign fighters and of mercenaries, and their impact on human rights. It has undertaken visits to several countries to assess these phenomena and has since issued reports in which foreign fighters were identified as mercenary-related actors, where the motivation to engage in armed conflict was for financial or material gain. 4. In connection with the Working Group’s mandate, the Human Rights Council emphasized its utmost concern, in its resolution 33/4, about the activities of private military and security companies operating in privatized prisons and immigration detention facilities and the impact of those activities on human rights. In 2017 the Working Group presented a report to the General Assembly in which it assessed the use of private military and security companies in places of deprivation of liberty and the impact on the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty (A/72/286). 5. During the visit, the Working Group held meetings in the states of Vienna and Lower Austria, in the town of Garsten in Upper Austria and in the towns of Leoben and Vordernberg in Styria. It met with representatives of the federal Government, including representatives of the Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, the Federal Chancellery and the Chancellery’s Department for Families and Youth. It also met with Members of Parliament and representatives from the Ombudsman’s Office. In addition, the delegation met with prisoners at Garsten prison, with detainees at the Vordernberg immigration detention facility, with representatives of civil society organizations, with academics and with young persons on deradicalization programmes. 6. The Working Group thanks the Government of Austria for its cooperation in facilitating the visit and for the factual comments that it made regarding the draft report. The delegation was able to hold open and frank discussions with all the State representatives it met. The Working Group also warmly thanks all the non-government interlocutors who gave of their time to meet and hold discussions with the delegation. The Working Group appreciates the support and assistance it received from the United Nations information centre in Vienna. 2