A/HRC/24/45 I. Introduction 1. In the present report, 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 selfdetermination describes its activities since its previous report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/21/43). The thematic section of the report provides results of the initial phase of the Working Group’s global study on national legislation, which focused on selected countries in Africa. 2. The report is submitted pursuant to resolution 2005/2 of the Commission on Human Rights, in which the Commission established the mandate of the Working Group, Human Rights Council resolutions 7/21 and 15/12, in which the Council extended that mandate, and Human Rights Council resolution 21/8. 3. The Working Group is composed of five independent experts serving in their personal capacities: Patricia Arias (Chile), Elzbieta Karska (Poland), Anton Katz (South Africa), Faiza Patel (Pakistan) and Gabor Rona (United States of America). In December 2012, the Working Group decided that Mr. Katz would act as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group from January 2013 to December 2013. II. Activities of the Working Group 4. In accordance with its usual practice, the Working Group held three regular sessions: two in Geneva and one in New York. It held regular meetings with representatives of Member States, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and experts. It reviewed allegations regarding the activities of mercenaries and private military and/or security companies (PMSCs) and their impact on human rights, and decided on the appropriate action. 5. For the purposes of the present report, PMSC may be defined as “a corporate entity which provides on a compensatory basis military and/or security services by physical persons and/or legal entities”. Military services refer to “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 surveillance, any kind of knowledge transfer with military applications, material and technical support to armed forces and other related activities”, whereas security services refer to “armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations, property and people, any kind of knowledge transfer with security and policing applications, development and implementation of informational security measures and other related activities”.1 A. Sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth sessions of the Working Group 6. The Working Group held its sixteenth session in New York from 30 July to 3 August 2012. As part of this session, it convened round-table discussions with experts on the Draft Convention on Private Military and Security Companies, and with representatives of NGOs working in the field of business and human rights on the potential linkage between the work of the Working Group and the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Working Group expresses its gratitude to the experts and NGO representatives who participated in the discussions. In addition, the Working 1 Draft of a possible Convention on Private Military and Security Companies for consideration and action by the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/15/25, annex I. 3