US sanctions Colombian citizens for recruiting fighters for Sudan’s war

Al Jazeera:

The United States government has issued sanctions against four Colombian nationals and the four businesses they help run, accusing them of forming a “transnational network” to profit from Sudan’s civil war.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury published a statement identifying Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, Mateo Andres Duque Botero and Monica Munoz Ucros as participants in a scheme to recruit former members of Colombia’s military to fight in Sudan.

Once in the East African country, the former soldiers are allegedly used to train the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been locked in a power struggle against Sudan’s government forces.

“The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians — including infants and young children. Its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow,” Treasury official John K Hurley said in a statement.

The conflict, the Treasury added, “has provoked the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis”.

Fighting has raged in Sudan since the outbreak of war in April 2023, and more than 12.4 million people have been forced from their homes, contributing to displacement both within the country’s borders and in surrounding areas. More than 3.3 million people have fled Sudan as refugees.

Just this week, a United Nations committee called for an end to the hostilities, citing a long list of human rights abuses committed by the RSF and its allies.