A/HRC/27/50 2013, requesting information on cases of mercenaries convicted by national courts. Reminders were sent on 6 March 2013. Information on replies received was provided in the Working Group’s previous report to the Human Rights Council. No further responses have been received since. E. Other activities of the Working Group members 12. Working Group member Gabor Rona participated in the Montreux +5 Conference convened by the Government of Switzerland, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), held from 11 to 13 December 2013. He also participated in the 55th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in Luanda, Angola, from 28 April to 12 May 2014. III. Research on national regulation of PMSCs A. Introduction 13. The Working Group continued its global study of national laws regarding PMSCs to assess their effectiveness in protecting human rights and promoting accountability for violations. The study aims to identify common points, good practices and regulatory gaps that may exist. The present report focuses on eight francophone African States and eight Asian States. The Working Group’s previous report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/24/45) focused on 13 anglophone African States3. In its next report to the Human Rights Council, in 2015, the Working Group intends to report on the national legislation of countries in the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), the Eastern European Group (EEG), as well as the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC). 14. In conducting this study of national legislation on PMSCs on a region-by-region basis, the Working Group hopes to develop guidance to help Member States regulate the growing phenomenon of PMSC use. Some of the laws reviewed for this report were made available by States and others were obtained through research. The various national laws were analysed through the lens of the following elements: (a) scope of the legislation; (b) licensing, authorization and registration of PMSCs; (c) selection and training of PMSC personnel; (d) permitted and prohibited activities of PMSCs; (e) rules on acquisition of weapons by PMSC personnel; (f) use of force and firearms by PMSC personnel; (g) accountability for violations of the law committed by PMSC personnel and remedies provided for victims and (h) ratification of the international convention on mercenaries. These elements were considered to be crucial in understanding the general regulatory framework in each State. 3 Botswana, Ghana, the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 5