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The United States has enforced penalties on a group of four people and four firms accused of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of genocidal acts.

Network Composition

Announcing the restrictions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the network was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force linked to severe violations including massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered last year, prompted by an investigation which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been recruited to engage in combat – an discovery that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during a long-running domestic war, training on Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the Colombians have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary remarked that training children was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer located in the Dubai. The US authorities said he had a key part in enlisting and transporting mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated oversaw a company linked to processing money and salaries for the scheme. "Recently, US-based firms linked to Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, worth millions," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the firm she operated accused of financial transactions associated with Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to stop giving funding and arms to the belligerents," the department said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "very significant" milestone, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

Furthermore, Colombia has enacted a piece of legislation endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and reshape its security approach.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The UAE has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.