The Draft Charter for the ICOC Independent Governance and Oversight Mechanism

16 March 2012

The International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC) is a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in 2009, led by the private sector with the assistance of the Government of Switzerland and in consultation with the Governments of the U.S., UK and other stakeholders. It was developed as a complement to the Montreux Document as well as a set of standards for security companies to respect human rights and humanitarian law.

On 10 November 2010, the first 58 signatory companies along with states and civil society launched a process to develop an external oversight mechanism.  A Steering Committee was established with equal representation of companies, governments and civil society in order to develop and document the initial arrangements for the mechanism, and has been conducting consultations throughout 2011 and 2012.

This IHRB submission offers comments to the Draft Charter for the independent governance and oversight mechanism.