A/HRC/42/42/Add.2 A. Definition and scope 7. A mercenary is defined in the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries as someone who is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict, is motivated essentially to take part in hostilities by a desire for private gain, and is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party. A mercenary is neither a national of a party to the conflict, nor a resident of the territory controlled by a party to the conflict, is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict, 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. 8. There is no international legal definition for foreign fighters, nor any specific legal regime governing them. The Working Group has noted that the term “foreign fighters” is generally understood to refer to individuals who leave their country of origin or habitual residence to engage in violence as part of an insurgency or a non-State armed group in an armed conflict (A/70/330, para. 13). 9. Both mercenaries and foreign fighters are external actors who intervene in an armed conflict. Mercenaries are neither nationals of a party to the conflict nor residents of a territory controlled by a party to the conflict. Similarly, foreign fighters, while they may or may not be nationals of a party to the conflict, do not reside in the State affected by the conflict and have travelled from abroad to join the insurgency. Both mercenaries and foreign fighters may be recruited abroad or locally (ibid., para. 14). 10. The right to self-determination, in its contemporary manifestation, encompasses political struggles for greater democracy and human rights. This right is referred to in Article 1 (2) of the Charter of the United Nations as a fundamental principle necessary for the purpose of strengthening universal peace. In its general comment No. 12 (1984) on the right to self-determination, the Human Rights Committee recognized this right as an essential condition for the effective guarantee and observance of individual human rights and for the promotion and strengthening of those rights (para. 1). This right is also broadly understood as the right of peoples to determine their own political and economic system, including by participatory political processes. 11. The Working Group defines a private military or security company as an entity that provides, on a compensatory basis, military and/or security services by physical persons and/or legal entities. B. Background 12. Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy with a population of approximately 8.7 million. The capital and largest city, Vienna, has a population exceeding 1.8 million. According to the human development index, Austria has a high standard of living and in 2018 was ranked at number 20 out of 189 countries and territories in the world, in the very high human development category. 1 Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and joined the European Union in 1995. 13. As a federal republic, Austria is comprised of nine federal states or provinces: Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna. Its official language is German (spoken by 88.6 per cent of the population). Croatian is also spoken, with smaller percentages of the population speaking Slovene and Hungarian. According to recent studies, an estimated 64 per cent of Austrians are Roman Catholics, 5 per cent are Protestants and 8 per cent are Muslims. 14. Migration to Austria has resulted in a diverse and multi-ethnic population. The conflicts that have recently taken place in countries such as Iraq and Syria have resulted in 1 See hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/AUT.pdf. 3