"Human Rights Watch": The UAE trained Colombian mercenaries who fought in Sudan

SadaNews - Human Rights Watch stated in a report published today, Tuesday, that Colombian fighters employed by a UAE-based company trained in UAE military bases before moving to Sudan, to support the Rapid Support Forces, which are accused of committing violations and atrocities.

The report indicated that Human Rights Watch interviewed two Colombian military contractors sent to Sudan, a former employee of the "Global Security Services Group" based in Abu Dhabi, residents of El Fasher in western Sudan, and former Colombian officers. They reviewed company records and official documents, verified images and videos published online, and geo-located some of them, including those published by the contractors themselves, which showed Colombians fighting alongside the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, and "training in military facilities in the UAE".

The report stated that "Human Rights Watch found that the recruits passed through a UAE military base in Ghayathi and what is presumed to be a military facility in Al Wathba, both in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi".

A December investigation by Agence France-Presse revealed that hundreds of former Colombian soldiers moved to Sudan to participate in the war in exchange for promises of high salaries.

The investigation at the time, based on interviews with mercenaries and members of their families, company records, and geo-located battlefield videos, showed that Colombians were recruited via WhatsApp, and then transported to Sudan after undergoing short training missions in the UAE.

Since April 2023, a devastating war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has been ongoing, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, millions displaced, and what the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that the security company "employed Colombian private military contractors deployed in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces" between 2024 and 2025.

It considered that "the recruitment of Colombian military contractors adds to a growing body of evidence that the UAE is militarily supporting the Rapid Support Forces". The report noted that several other companies in Colombia and Panama contribute to the recruitment.

It mentioned that the Global Security Services Group "had until recently announced that among its clients were major Emirati ministries, and that it was the sole provider of armed security services for the UAE government", noting that it is linked to high-ranking officials, which the UAE continually denies, stating that it has no relation to the war in Sudan.

A UAE government official commented to Agence France-Presse on the report, stating that his country "does not allow the use of its territory for the recruitment, training, financing, or transit of foreign fighters heading to any conflict, including Sudan". He added that "any person or entity" engaging in such acts "will be subject to a criminal investigation".

Human Rights Watch accused the Rapid Support Forces of having "committed serious violations and abuses across the country since the start of the war, including widespread extrajudicial executions, rapes, gang rapes, sexual slavery, looting, and destruction of civilian infrastructure".

It considered that the provision of military support from the UAE to the Rapid Support Forces "could constitute assistance and complicity, or substantial contribution to the Rapid Support Forces committing war crimes and crimes against humanity".

Human Rights Watch called on "the UAE's allies and members of the United Nations and African Union Security Councils" to "publicly demand that the Emirati authorities immediately and urgently stop the supply of weapons, equipment, personnel, and all forms of support to the Rapid Support Forces".