A/HRC/30/47 that there was no protection gap and no impunity for private military and security companies, including for those that operated transnationally. 6. The Deputy High Commissioner indicated that the prosecution and recent sentencing by a United States federal judge of four Blackwater contractors who had killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007 had sent a strong signal that human rights abuses committed by private military and security companies should never remain unpunished. However, as flagged by the Working Group on mercenaries in its press release of 14 April 2015: “Justice is served in this case but must be assured globally.”4 She mentioned that other initiatives were also relevant when considering an international regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies. Those included the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers and the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict, which sought to promote respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law whenever such companies were present in armed conflicts. II. Organization of the fourth session A. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 7. At its first meeting, on 27 April 2015, the working group elected the Permanent Representative of South Africa, Abdul S. Minty, as its Chair-Rapporteur. B. Attendance 8. The list of attendance is contained in annex I to the present report. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 28/7, the open-ended intergovernmental working group invited experts and relevant stakeholders to participate in its work, including the ChairRapporteur of the Working Group on mercenaries, Elżbieta Karska; the Director of the Security in Complex Environments Group, Paul Gibson; senior researcher in international law at the University of Pretoria, Stuart Casey-Maslen; and the United Nations UnderSecretary-General for Safety and Security. C. Organization of the session 9. In his introductory remarks, the Chair-Rapporteur recalled the mandate of the openended intergovernmental working group. He indicated that at previous sessions a range of issues and challenges to the effective regulation of the activities of private military and security companies had been addressed, focusing on existing law and practice, on issues of accountability for human rights abuses linked to such activities and on the provision of appropriate assistance and remedies for victims. He also recalled that delegations had reaffirmed the shared goal of protecting human rights and ensuring accountability for violations and abuses relating to the activities of private military and security companies; and that there was widespread agreement about gaps in the current regulatory framework, not least because only very few States had specific legislation on such companies. The Chair-Rapporteur mentioned that how to ensure effective remedies and accountability 4 4 Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15840&LangID=E.