Washington Levies Restrictions on Network Accused of Recruiting South American Mercenaries to Sudan.
The United States has levied restrictions on a operation of several persons and entities accused of enlisting former Colombian soldiers to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of acts of genocide.
Network Composition
Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.
Scores of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a group implicated in severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.
Discovery of Participation
The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered the previous year, prompted by an inquiry which disclosed that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been contracted to participate in the war – an revelation that prompted an unprecedented apology from Colombia’s foreign ministry.
Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from years of internal conflict, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.
Role in the Conflict
In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".
Named Entities
Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a central role in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.
Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who officials alleged oversaw a company implicated in managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Recently, companies in the United States linked to Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the government release noted.
Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated alleged to have money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.
"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the department said in a statement.
Expert Analysis
An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "major" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".
She added that, Bogotá recently passed a law approving the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit its citizens' long history in overseas wars and reshape its security approach.
A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with rampant mercenarism".
"This is a shadow economy and centered in the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," he advised.
