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The Washington has enforced penalties on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group implicated in severe violations such as ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged last year, after an report which revealed that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been contracted to participate in the war – an discovery that led to an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, training on Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the Dubai. The government accused him a key part in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated oversaw a company linked to handling funds and payroll for the network. "Over the past two years, companies in the United States associated with Duque engaged in several money transfers, worth millions," the Treasury statement stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be targeted, with the firm she operated said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to cease providing financial and military support to the combatants," the Treasury said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "highly important" step, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia recently passed a piece of legislation ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with the growing mercenary trade".

"It’s an illicit economy and operating from the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, allegations it disputes. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.