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The US government has levied restrictions on a group of four people and four firms charged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Numerous of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction implicated in horrific war crimes including ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered the previous year, following an report which revealed that hundreds of former soldiers had been recruited to engage in combat – an event that led to an unprecedented apology from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during years of internal conflict, training on Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved remarked that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier operating from the United Arab Emirates. The government accused him a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated oversaw a company linked to managing finances and payments for the scheme. "Recently, American entities linked to Duque engaged in several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted money transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to halt the flow of funding and arms to the combatants," the Treasury said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "major" step, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

Furthermore, Colombia has enacted a law ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in overseas wars and reshape national security policy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, stating that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The Emirati government has been widely accused of arming the RSF, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.