WILPF submits views on cyber mercenaries and human rights
In February 2021, WILPF submitted its views on the human rights impact of cyber mercenaries to the UN Working Group on the use of Mercenaries. This submission will inform the Group's forthcoming report about cyber mercenaries which will be delivered to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly later this year.
In its submission, WILPF identifies six types of actors that can be considered a cyber mercenary, and outlines concerns about the diverse human rights impact of their products and services as well as situates the use and outputs of cyber mercenaries within a broader critique of the weaponisation of technology and privatisation of security. The submission includes several recommendations that touch on issues of corporate accountability; use of proxy actors; gender; and human rights and international humanitarian law.