Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Paragraph: 25
Wagner Network functions as an international criminal mafia, committing atrocities and plundering resources.
Conclusion
There is a significant gap between perception and capability when it comes to the Wagner Network. Despite the continued belief by some that inviting them into a country will result in benefits, the reality is that regimes pay a high price for working with the Wagner Network. The original outcomes are rarely achieved. During the past 10 years, Wagner fighters have left behind a trail of atrocities in virtually all theatres where they have operated, with limited accountability. They may present themselves as a highly trained, professional fighting force but their indiscipline, their excessive violence and their financial motivation mean that the network has functioned like an international criminal mafia, fuelling corruption and plundering natural resources. Some regimes’ reliance on the network for survival means that Wagner actors show little respect for the citizens or the laws of the countries where they operate. The network’s military and political involvement in the Central African Republic is all-encompassing and should serve as a warning of what may happen elsewhere. Even when Wagner’s deployments do not result in benefits for the host country, they are often a great success for the network itself due to the lucrative resources it accesses, particularly in the Central African Republic and Sudan.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's assessment of the Wagner Network's harmful impact and atrocities, demonstrating this by proscribing the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization on September 15th, making support for it a criminal offense and enabling the seizure of its assets.
Paragraph Reference:
25
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Agree. 20. On 6 September, the Government laid a draft proscription order which has now been approved in both Houses and came into force on 15 September. The order added Wagner Group to the list of proscribed organisations listed in Schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000. Proscription makes it a criminal offence for a person in the UK to belong to a proscribed organisation, support a proscribed organisation or wear clothing or carry articles in public which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation. Certain proscription offences can be punishable by up to 14 years in prison, or an unlimited fine. Wagner’s assets can also be categorised as terrorist property and are liable to be seized. 21. This step underlines our intent to act against Russian aggression in Ukraine, in which Wagner has played an important role, as well as against Wagner’s wider activities, which have been repeatedly linked to human rights violations. 22. The Government judges that Wagner commits and participates in terrorism. This includes the use of serious violence against Ukrainian Armed Forces and against civilians to advance Russia’s political cause. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Wagner Group’s forces were deployed as a force multiplier to support the Russian military, receiving financial, logistical and military support from the Russian state. Wagner Group played a central role in combat operations against Ukrainian Armed Forces to seize the city of Popasna in May 2022, and during the assault of Bakhmut, which was occupied by Russian forces by June 2023. Wagner Group has been implicated in serious acts of violence and damage to property while working in a variety of African countries, demonstrating Wagner’s broader involvement in terrorism. ALTERNATIVE OFFER