More than ‘Doing the Dirty Work’: Analysing Wagner’s actions in Mali as undermining the International Rule of Law

Abstract

Wagner has occupied headlines for targeting civilians and committing war crimes. While this is worrying as is, they are part of a growing industry of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), which become increasingly important in modern warfare. Meanwhile, the core regulations of armed conflict, International Humanitarian Law, falls short of providing clear mechanisms to address this issue and persecute their crimes. This thesis aims to explore how Wagner’s deployment in Mali is destabilising the International Rule of Law (IRoL) in Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC). Based on a literature review on IRoL, I propose a working definition of IRoL in NIAC in two parts. The first component encompasses principles of procedural integrity. The second refers to the compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). IHL is concluded to be essential in regulating armed conflict and is effectively universally binding. Hence, it is the basis for this working definition and the operationalisation for its application in the case context. Based on the said definition, I operationalise IRoL in NIAC as the protection of civilians from unnecessary harm and violence. After a brief overview of the conflict in Mali, I apply this definition to Wagner to analyse the extent to which they might act as undermining IRoL. Based on data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) between 01 September 2021 and 31 July 2023, Violence against Civilians has increased drastically since Wagner’s deployment, and the group shows patterns of targeting specific, already marginalised, ethnic groups. Therefore, I conclude, Wagner's presence in Mali undermines IRoL in two ways: First, due to legal ambiguity concerning PMSCs in NIAC. Second, Wagner is actively targeting and harming civilians, thus violating the fundamental principles of IHL. For future discourse and research, I suggest two approaches. First, international partners ought to reevaluate the underlying reasons for involving Wagner in armed conflict and re-evaluate their past and present approaches to military intervention. Second, in light of the broader movement towards the privatisation of warfare, IHL needs to clearly address the status and provisions of actors such as PMSCs in armed conflict.