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The US government has levied restrictions on a network of several persons and entities charged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

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

Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have reportedly travelled to Sudan to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a force linked to severe violations encompassing targeted ethnic killings and large-scale abductions.

Revelation of Role

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered the previous year, after an report which disclosed that over three hundred former soldiers had been contracted to fight – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience gleaned from decades of civil war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the Colombians have been accused of teaching underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier operating from the UAE. The US authorities said he had a pivotal function in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the network. "Recently, companies in the United States associated with Duque engaged in several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be targeted, with the company she managed accused of wire transfers linked to Duque and his businesses.

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

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "major" step, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia has enacted a statute approving the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It’s an illicit economy and based out of the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," he advised.