A forum for participants of 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.
In June 2014, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Senegal in collaboration with the ICRC, and the Centre des hautes études du défense et securité (CHEDS), and DCAF, hosted a regional conference in Dakar.
The conference gathered over 60 participants including civil society, international organisations and representatives from 16 states in the Francophone and Lusophone region in Africa (Algeria, Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cap Vert, Cameroon, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Togo).
The aim of the seminar was to increase the number of states supporting the Montreux Document, to provide an opportunity to share experiences, and to identify good practices regarding the national regulation of PMSCs in sub-Saharan Africa.
"The Montreux Document reaffirms the obligation of states to see to it that PMSCs operating in armed conflicts adhere to international humanitarian law and international human rights law" Zakaria Maiga, deputy head, ICRC regional delegation in Dakar.
