🔗 Share this article

The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of four individuals and four companies charged of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction linked to horrific war crimes such as targeted ethnic killings and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged last year, prompted by an report which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been hired to fight – an revelation that led to an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during decades of civil war, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the conflict, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching underage fighters, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer located in the UAE. The government accused him a key part in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm implicated in managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities connected to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the firm she operated said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his companies.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to cease providing funding and arms to the combatants," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, described the sanctions as a "very significant" milestone, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, Colombia ratified a law endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and reshape national security policy.

Sean McFate, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, stating that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"It’s an illicit economy and based out of the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," the expert cautioned.