Washington Levies Restrictions on Group Accused of Funneling South American Fighters to Sudan.

The US government has imposed sanctions on a network of four individuals and four companies charged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of acts of genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the restrictions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction linked to severe violations such as targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered the previous year, following an inquiry which found that hundreds of retired troops had been contracted to participate in the war – an event that led to an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during a long-running domestic war, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. One source was quoted as saying that training children was "terrible and insane" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The government said he had a central role in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions 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. "Over the past two years, American entities linked to Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his operations.

"The US once more urges external actors to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the department stated.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, from a conflict think tank, labeled the sanctions as a "very significant" milestone, stating that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, the Colombian government ratified a law ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and reshape its security approach.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the UAE, which is difficult to penalize," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.