🔗 Share this article

The Washington has enforced penalties on a group of several persons and entities charged of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Group Makeup

Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the operation was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Hundreds of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the RSF paramilitary group, a force accused of severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered the previous year, after an inquiry which disclosed that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been hired to engage in combat – an event that prompted an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from years of internal conflict, training on Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the Colombians have allegedly instructed minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary previously stated that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer operating from the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury alleged he played a central role in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who officials alleged oversaw a company accused of managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Recently, American entities associated with Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be penalized, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted money transfers associated with Duque and his companies.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to halt the flow of financial and military support to the combatants," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "major" milestone, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, Bogotá has enacted a law approving the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and reshape its security approach.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, stating that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.