|ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY ORGANISATION DE L'UNITE AFRICAINE
CM/817 (XXIX) Annex II Rev.1
OAU CONVENTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF MERCENARISM IN AFRICA
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# PREAMBLE
We, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Organization of African Unity;
CONSIDERING the grave threat which the activities of mercenaries present to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and harmonious development of Member States of the Organization of African Unity;
CONCERNED with the threat which the activities of mercenaries pose to the legitimate exercise of the right of African People under colonial and racist domination to their independence and freedom;
CONVINCED that total solidarity and co-operation between Member States are indispensable for putting an end to the subversive activities of mercenaries in Africa;
CONSIDERING that the resolutions of the UN and the OAU, the statements of attitude and the practice of a great number of States are indicative of the development of new rules of international law making mercenarism an international crime;
DETERMINED to take all necessary measures to eliminate from the African continent the scourge that mercenarism represents;
Have agreed as follows:
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# ARTICLE 1 – DEFINITION
- A mercenary is any person who:-
a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict; b) does in fact take a direct part in the hostilities; c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and in fact is promised by or on behalf of a party to the conflict material compensation; d) is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict; e) is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and f) is not sent by a state other than a party to the conflict on official mission as a member of the armed forces of the said state.
- The crime of mercenarism is committed by the individual, group or association, representative of a State and the State itself who with the aim of opposing by armed violence a process of self-determination stability or the territorial integrity of another State, that practises any of the following acts:
a) Shelters, organises, finances, assists, equips, trains, promotes, supports or in any manner employs bands of mercenaries; b) Enlists, enrols or tries to enrol in the said bands; c) Allows the activities mentioned in paragraph (a) to be carried out in any territory under its jurisdiction or in any place under its control or affords facilities for transit, transport or other operations of the above mentioned forces.
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- Any person, natural or juridical who commits the crime of mercenarism as defined in paragraph 1 of this Article commits an offence considered as a crime against peace and security in Africa and shall be punished as such.