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The US government has enforced penalties on a network of several persons and entities accused of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in terrible atrocities such as targeted ethnic killings and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged the previous year, after an report which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been recruited to fight – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from decades of civil war, training on Western military gear, and superior tactical education.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have reportedly trained underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer located in the Dubai. The government accused him a pivotal function in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated oversaw a company implicated in handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "Recently, US-based firms connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated alleged to have financial transactions linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to cease providing funding and arms to the warring parties," the Treasury stated.

Reaction

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, described the sanctions as a "major" step, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a piece of legislation approving the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and transform domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and operating from the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.