Armenia

Reservation:

       “No provision of the present Convention should be interpreted as implying an obligation of mutual legal assistance if the requested State party has reason to believe that the request for legal assistance concerning certain offences has been submitted for the purposes of prosecuting or punishing a certain person on the grounds of race, religion, nationality or political views, or if acceding to the request would otherwise prejudice the implementation of rights of that person on any of those grounds.
       No provision of the present Convention should be interpreted as implying an obligation of extradition if the requested State party has reason to believe that the request for extradition based on the offences set forth in the Convention has been submitted for the purposes of prosecuting or punishing a certain person on the grounds of race, religion, nationality or political views, or if acceding to the request would prejudice the implementation of rights of that person on any of those grounds.
       No provision of the present Convention should be interpreted as implying, for the Republic of Armenia, an obligation to extradite Armenian nationals.”

Cuba

Declarations, notification and reservation:

       With respect to article 1, paragraph 1, Cuba considers it pointless and irrelevant to include in the definition of "mercenary" the criterion established in paragraph 1 (b), which requires that material compensation be "substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party". Cuba is of the view that material compensation alone, whatever the amount, is sufficient for an activity to be considered mercenary.
       Cuba considers that in order for a natural or legal person to be defined as a mercenary under this Convention, it is not necessary for all the criteria set forth in articles 1 and 2 to be met.
       The Republic of Cuba will therefore continue to apply the definition set forth in article 119 of its Penal Code of 1988, which defines a mercenary as "anyone who, in order to receive a wage or other form of material compensation, joins a military formation made up, in whole or in part, of individuals who are not citizens of the State in whose territory they plan to act" and "who collaborates in or carries out any other act for the direct or indirect purpose of achieving the aforementioned objective".
       With respect to article 13, paragraph 1, Cuba considers that it should be clarified that the law referred to in this article applies only to judicial cooperation between States parties, not to criminal proceedings brought against persons presumed to have committed the offence of mercenarism.
       Pursuant to the provisions of article 17, paragraph 2, Cuba declares that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph 1 of this article.

Saudi Arabia

Reservation:

       The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not consider itself bound by article 17, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Declaration:

       With regard to the provisions laid down in article 12, the extradition of Venezuelan nationals is expressly prohibited by the Venezuelan law. In that respect, in the event of a request for extradition of a Venezuelan national, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will submit the case to the competent Venezuelan authorities for the purpose of prosecution, through proceedings in accordance with the laws of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Reservation:

       Pursuant to paragraph 2, article 17, of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela makes an express reservation to paragraph 1 of the same article. Therefore, it does not consider itself bound to resort to arbitration as a means of dispute settlement, nor does it recognize the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.