The United Arab Emirates (UAE) trained Colombian mercenaries before sending them to fight alongside the well-known paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the devastating Sudan war, reported Human Rights Watch on Tuesday. This new report is the latest from an international human rights group accusing the affluent Gulf monarchy of financially and militarily aiding the RSF, widely accused of committing atrocities that equate to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The UAE denied the latest accusations in response to questions from The Associated Press. The report adds to a growing body of evidence. ‘The recruitment of Colombian private military contractors adds to a growing body of evidence that the UAE provides military support to the Rapid Support Forces, which have repeatedly committed horrific atrocities in Sudan’, stated Mausi Segun, Executive Director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
Conflict in Sudan
The war in Sudan erupted on April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the army and the RSF led to fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and other areas of the vast country in northeastern Africa. The RSF originated from the feared Arab Janjaweed militias, notorious for the atrocities committed in the early 2000s against people said to come from East or Central African origins in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
Training and Deployment
In the new report, HRW indicated that hundreds of Colombian mercenaries were trained by Emirati citizens at a military base in the Al Dhafra region, about 250 kilometers west of the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and at another facility in the same city before being deployed to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF. The human rights defense group cited an unidentified Colombian mercenary who claimed to have trained RSF recruits in camps around Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, last April. Many recruits were ‘young children’, according to the mercenary.
HRW noted they interviewed another Colombian mercenary and other sources, including former Colombian military officers. A UN panel of experts reported to the United Nations Security Council in September that Colombian mercenaries fought in various areas of Sudan, including Khartoum, its sister city Omdurman, and the regions of Darfur and Kordofan, among others. The experts noted that the mercenaries’ combat roles included operating drones, artillery, and armored vehicles for the RSF, as well as engaging in direct attacks.
Support and Denials
The RSF commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, acknowledged in February video comments that Colombian mercenaries have helped his group operate drones. The report urges countries to pressure the UAE to cease their support for the RSF.
The mercenaries were hired by Global Security Services Group, a private security company based in Abu Dhabi, as reported by HRW. According to UN experts, the firm was chaired by Mohamed Hamdan Al Zaabi, an Emirati citizen. HRW noted that Emirati authorities and the company did not respond to their requests for comments. However, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the accusations in an email to the AP. ‘The UAE does not allow its territory to be used for recruitment, training, financing, or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan’, the ministry stated.
They further said that any individual or private entity, Emirati or foreign, that provides support to non-state armed groups ‘would do so without state authorization, in violation of Emirati law, and would be subject to investigation and criminal prosecution.’
HRW stated that they verified videos showing mercenaries, apparently Colombian, fighting alongside the RSF when they captured the city of El Fasher in Darfur in October during an offensive that, according to UN-commissioned experts, displayed ‘the characteristics of a genocide’. At least 6,000 people died in three days, according to the UN.
The human rights advocacy group urged the international community, including the European Union, to pressure the UAE to cease support for the RSF by suspending military cooperation and arms sales. ‘Other countries must stop accepting the UAE’s categorical denials regarding their support for the RSF, which contradict the facts, and should end their impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity’, Segun expressed.
The United States has imposed sanctions on many individuals and companies located in Bogota for allegedly recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to fight with the RSF. But they have yet to address reports on the alleged UAE support for the RSF, accused of repeatedly committing ‘summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, and torture in areas under their control’ during the war.
At least 59,000 people have died over three years, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an independent nonprofit organization that collects data and analyzes political violence. However, the US-based group noted their figure is almost certainly an underestimate, given the difficulty in reporting.