CHAPTER XVIII

PENAL MATTERS6International Convention Against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of MercenariesNew York, 4 December 1989Entry into force20 October 2001, in accordance with article 19(1).Registration20 October 2001, No. 37789StatusSignatories17Parties37TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 2163, p. 75; depositary notification C.N.888.2004.TREATIES-1 of 3 September 2004 [Proposal of corrections to the original text of the Convention (authentic Russian text)] and C.N.1070.2004.TREATIES-4 of 4 October 2004 [Rectification of the original of the Convention (Russian authentic text)].The Convention was adopted by Resolution <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/44/34" target="_blank">44/34</a><superscript>1</superscript> on 4 December 1989. It is open for signature by all States until 31 December 1990 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

ParticipantSignature, Succession to signature(d)Ratification, Accession(a), Succession(d)Angola28 Dec 1990 Armenia23 Nov 2020 aAzerbaijan 4 Dec 1997 aBarbados10 Jul 1992 aBelarus13 Dec 1990 28 May 1997 Belgium31 May 2002 aCameroon21 Dec 1990 26 Jan 1996 Congo20 Jun 1990 Costa Rica20 Sep 2001 aCroatia<superscript>2</superscript>27 Mar 2000 aCuba 9 Feb 2007 aCyprus 8 Jul 1993 aDemocratic Republic of the Congo20 Mar 1990 Ecuador 7 Dec 2016 aEquatorial Guinea21 Jan 2019 aGeorgia 8 Jun 1995 aGermany20 Dec 1990 Guinea18 Jul 2003 aHonduras 1 Apr 2008 aItaly 5 Feb 1990 21 Aug 1995 Liberia16 Sep 2005 aLibya22 Sep 2000 aMaldives17 Jul 1990 11 Sep 1991 Mali12 Apr 2002 aMauritania 9 Feb 1998 aMontenegro<superscript>3</superscript>23 Oct 2006 dMorocco 5 Oct 1990 New Zealand<superscript>4</superscript>22 Sep 2004 aNigeria 4 Apr 1990 Peru23 Mar 2007 aPoland28 Dec 1990 Qatar26 Mar 1999 aRepublic of Moldova28 Feb 2006 aRomania17 Dec 1990 Saudi Arabia14 Apr 1997 aSenegal 9 Jun 1999 aSerbia<superscript>2</superscript>12 Mar 2001 d14 Jan 2016 Seychelles12 Mar 1990 aSuriname27 Feb 1990 10 Aug 1990 Syrian Arab Republic23 Oct 2008 aTogo25 Feb 1991 aTurkmenistan18 Sep 1996 aUkraine<superscript>5</superscript>21 Sep 1990 13 Sep 1993 Uruguay20 Nov 1990 14 Jul 1999 Uzbekistan19 Jan 1998 aVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)12 Nov 2013 aArmeniaReservation:“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.”BelgiumReservations:No provision of the present Convention should be interpreted as implying an obligation of mutual judicial assistance if the requested State party has reason to believe that the request for judicial assistance concerning certain offences has been submitted for the purposes of prosecuting or punishing a certain person on the grounds of ethnic origin, religion, nationality or political views, or if acceding to the request would prejudice the situation 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 ethnic origin, religion, nationality or political views , or if acceding to the request would prejudice the situation of that person on any of those grounds.No provision of the Convention should be interpreted as implying, for Belgium, an obligation to extradite Belgian nationals.CubaDeclarations, 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.Republic of MoldovaDeclarations and Reservation:Until the full re-establishment of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, the provisions of the Convention shall be applied only on the territory controlled effectively by the authorities of the Republic of the Moldova.No provision of the Convention should be interpreted as implying, for the Republic of Moldova, an obligation to extradite its own citizens or persons granted with political asylum.According to article 17 paragraph 2 of the Convention, the Republic of Moldova does not consider itself bound by article 17, paragraph 1 of the Convention.Saudi ArabiaReservation:The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not consider itself bound by article 17, paragraph 1, of the Convention.Syrian Arab RepublicReservation:The Syrian Arab Republic makes a reservation to 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.1<i> Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 49 </i> (A/44/49), p. 306.2The former Yugoslavia had signed the Convention on 12 December 1990. See also note 1 under "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.3See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.4With the following territorial exclusion:"... consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this ratification shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory."5On 20 October 2015, the Government of Ukraine made a communication. The text can be found here: C.N.614.2015.TREATIES-XVIII.6 of 20 October 2015.