Story perspectives

HRW Alleges UAE Firm Sent Colombian Mercenaries to Sudan

5/28/2026

Summary

Global Security Sends Contractors

HRW said the Global Security Services Group sent Colombian contractors to fight with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.
Contractors appeared in November 2024 videos and were in El Fasher during the RSF’s October 2025 takeover, when killings and sexual violence occurred.
HRW says UAE support could be war-crime complicity, while the UAE denies recruitment.
HRW urges the UN Security Council, the EU and the African Union to investigate and sanction the group.

Summary

Treasury Sanctions RSF

In December 2023 U.S. Treasury sanctioned four people and four firms for moving Colombian fighters to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sanctioned were Alvaro Quijano Becerra, Claudia Oliveros Forero of A4SI, and firms Maine Global Corp and Comercializadora San Bendito to finance pipeline.
Later OFAC action hit colonel Jose Oscar Garcia Batte and his firms Global Qowa Al-Basheria and Fénix while Treasury said network threatens Sudan’s peace, needing funding cut.

History

Historical Context

After the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1556 on 30 July 2004, approved by 13 council members and demanding Sudan disarm the Janjaweed, the body set a precedent for targeting war-funding networks. The U.S. Treasury’s December 2023 sanctions on Colombian contractor Global Security Services Group and the RSF follow that model, showing how coordinated measures can pressure illicit financing.

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Global Security Sends Contractors

HRW said the Global Security Services Group sent Colombian contractors to fight with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.
Contractors appeared in November 2024 videos and were in El Fasher during the RSF’s October 2025 takeover, when killings and sexual violence occurred.
HRW says UAE support could be war-crime complicity, while the UAE denies recruitment.
HRW urges the UN Security Council, the EU and the African Union to investigate and sanction the group.

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