A/HRC/42/42 Ms. Aparac provided an overview of the Working Group’s mandate, elaborated on elements defining private military and security companies in national and international law, and addressed some of the current challenges and opportunities with respect to that sector. 13. On 4 and 5 February 2019, Lilian Bobea took part in a multi-stakeholder workshop on the regulation, oversight and governance of the private security industry in the Caribbean region, organized by the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Trinidad and Tobago. The event provided an opportunity to interact with high-level State representatives, private companies and civil society from a region with a growing private security industry. 14. On 20 and 21 May 2019, Sorcha MacLeod participated in the first session of the openended intergovernmental working group to elaborate the content of an international regulatory framework, without prejudging the nature thereof, to protect human rights and ensure accountability for violations and abuses relating to the activities of private military and security companies, held pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 36/11. On behalf of the Working Group, she expressed support for a legally binding instrument that would complement the existing regulatory framework laid out in other relevant instruments. She stressed the importance of ensuring strong human rights safeguards in any future regulatory mechanism on private military and security companies, such as transparent and effective State accountability mechanisms that ensure access to justice and remedies for victims of human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law related to the activities of private military and security companies; addressing jurisdictional issues and mutual legal assistance for effective vetting and accountability processes; and adequate and effective training. She also pointed out that any future regulatory mechanism should extend to subcontractors. III. Relationship between private military and security companies and extractive industry companies from a human rights perspective 15. Historically, States have been the principal clients of private military and security companies, the activities of which were mainly examined through the lens of the privatization of State functions. More recently, however, private actors have become more prominent as clients of private military and security services. This shift in the client base towards non-State clients raises numerous questions regarding the evolving activities of private military and security companies in both the public and private spheres, given also that private actors appear to be given prerogatives traditionally attributed to the State, such as the use of force. Moreover, this trend may have implications for accountability for any human rights abuses committed by such companies. Indeed, if ensuring accountability for abuses committed by private actors contracted by States has proven difficult, the question of how this can be achieved in the framework of private-private relationships raises understandable concerns and merits special attention, particularly in the context of armed conflict, where corporate actions can give rise to international crimes (see A/HRC/17/32). A. Definitions and methodological considerations 16. In the present report, the Working Group refers to extractive companies as “any company in the industries of extracting, harvesting or developing natural resources or energy”, the definition used by the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. 2 17. The Working Group furthermore understands a private military or security company to be “a corporate entity which provides on a compensatory basis military and/or security services by physical persons and/or legal entities”. It defines military services as “specialized services related to military actions including strategic planning, intelligence, investigation, land, sea or air reconnaissance, flight operations of any type, manned or unmanned, satellite 2 See www.voluntaryprinciples.org. 5