The training happened at military facilities, which implies institutional knowledge
In the long and troubled history of proxy warfare, a new chapter has been documented: the United Arab Emirates stands accused of training Colombian mercenaries on its own soil and deploying them to Sudan's most brutal theater of conflict, where the Rapid Support Forces have been linked to genocide, mass killing, and systematic violence against civilians. Human Rights Watch, drawing on interviews with fighters and former officers, has placed this arrangement within a pattern of Gulf-state military support that persists behind a wall of official denial. The war in Sudan — now three years old and carrying a death toll of at least 59,000 — did not emerge from nowhere; it grew from the same roots as the Darfur atrocities of the early 2000s, and the world's failure then to hold perpetrators accountable casts a long shadow over the reckoning being demanded now.
- Hundreds of Colombian fighters cycled through UAE military bases before being sent to join a paramilitary force that UN experts have linked to genocide — making the Gulf state's denials increasingly difficult to sustain.
- The RSF's October assault on el-Fasher killed at least 6,000 people in three days, with verified footage showing Colombian mercenaries participating in an offensive that international experts characterized as bearing the hallmarks of genocide.
- A mercenary told Human Rights Watch he personally trained RSF recruits near Nyala — and that many of those recruits were children, deepening the moral weight of the allegations against all parties in the chain of command.
- The UAE insists any private actors involved operated without state authorization, but neither Emirati authorities nor the Abu Dhabi firm at the center of the recruitment network responded to requests for comment.
- Human Rights Watch is calling on the EU and other nations to suspend military cooperation and arms sales with the UAE, while the United States — which has sanctioned Colombian recruiters — has yet to formally confront Emirati involvement.
- International pressure is mounting, but impunity has so far held: no major power has moved to impose consequences on the UAE itself, even as evidence of its role in one of the world's deadliest conflicts continues to accumulate.
A Human Rights Watch investigation has documented what many observers long suspected — that the United Arab Emirates trained Colombian mercenaries at military facilities on its own soil before sending them to fight alongside Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of genocide and mass atrocity. The training occurred at two UAE bases, including one near Abu Dhabi, and involved hundreds of fighters recruited through an Emirati-chaired private security firm. One mercenary described personally training RSF recruits near Nyala in South Darfur — noting that many were children.
Sudan's war began in April 2023 as a power struggle between the national military and the RSF, a force descended from the Janjaweed militias responsible for the Darfur massacres of the early 2000s. The conflict has since killed at least 59,000 people, a figure widely believed to undercount the true toll. The Colombian fighters were not peripheral to the violence: a UN panel reported they operated drones, artillery, and armored vehicles across multiple war zones, and RSF commander General Dagalo himself acknowledged their role in drone operations.
Verified footage placed Colombian fighters at the RSF's October assault on el-Fasher — an offensive in which at least 6,000 people died in three days, and which UN-commissioned experts described as bearing the hallmarks of genocide. The UAE has denied all allegations, stating that any private actors involved would be operating outside state authorization and in violation of Emirati law.
Human Rights Watch's Africa director called the mercenary recruitment part of a broader pattern of UAE support for a force committing heinous atrocities, and urged the international community to stop accepting Emirati denials. The United States has sanctioned Colombian recruiters but has not yet acted against the UAE directly. Calls are growing for the EU and other nations to suspend arms sales and military cooperation with the Gulf state until its support for the RSF ends.
A new investigation by Human Rights Watch has documented what international observers have long suspected: the United Arab Emirates trained Colombian mercenaries at military facilities within its own borders before dispatching them to Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of some of the war's most severe atrocities. The report, released Tuesday, represents the latest in a mounting body of evidence that the wealthy Gulf state has provided sustained military backing to the RSF despite public denials.
The training took place at two locations: a military base in the Al Dhafra region, roughly 155 miles west of Abu Dhabi, and another facility in the capital itself. According to Human Rights Watch's interviews with unnamed Colombian mercenaries and former Colombian military officers, hundreds of fighters cycled through these programs before being sent to Sudan. One mercenary told the organization that he personally trained RSF recruits at camps near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, in April of last year. He noted that many of the recruits he worked with were young children. The mercenaries were hired through Global Security Services Group, an Abu Dhabi-based private security firm chaired by Emirati national Mohammed Hamdan Al-Zaabi.
Sudan's war erupted on April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the country's military and the RSF ignited into open conflict that has since spread across the sprawling northeastern African nation. The RSF itself emerged from the remnants of the Janjaweed, Arab militias that became synonymous with mass killing during the early 2000s in Darfur, where they targeted people of East and Central African descent. The current conflict has killed at least 59,000 people over three years, though tracking organizations acknowledge this figure almost certainly understates the true toll given the difficulty of documenting deaths in active war zones.
The Colombian fighters have played a direct combat role in the RSF's operations. A United Nations panel of experts reported to the Security Council in September that these mercenaries operated drones, artillery, and armored vehicles across multiple theaters of war—in Khartoum, the sister city of Omdurman, and throughout the Darfur and Kordofan regions. RSF commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged in video remarks in February that Colombian mercenaries had assisted his forces with drone operations. Human Rights Watch verified video footage showing what appeared to be Colombian fighters participating in the RSF's October capture of the Darfur city of el-Fasher, an offensive that UN-commissioned experts said bore the hallmarks of genocide. In three days of fighting, at least 6,000 people were killed.
The UAE has flatly denied the allegations. In a statement to the Associated Press, the Foreign Ministry said the country does not permit its territory to be used for recruiting, training, financing, or transporting foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan. The ministry added that any private individual or entity providing support to armed groups would be acting without state authorization and in violation of Emirati law, subject to criminal investigation. Neither the Emirati authorities nor Global Security Services Group responded to Human Rights Watch's requests for comment.
Mausi Segun, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division, characterized the recruitment of Colombian mercenaries as part of a pattern. "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 carried out heinous atrocities in Sudan," he said. The organization has called on the international community—including the European Union—to suspend military cooperation and arms sales with the UAE until it ends its support for the RSF.
The United States has already imposed sanctions on individuals and firms based in Bogotá for their role in recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to Sudan. But Washington has not yet addressed the documented involvement of the UAE, despite publicly accusing the RSF of carrying out summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, and torture throughout areas under its control. Segun urged other nations to stop accepting the UAE's denials. "Other countries need to stop accepting the UAE's blanket denials of support to the RSF which fly in the face of the facts, and should put an end to its impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said.
Citações Notáveis
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 carried out heinous atrocities in Sudan.— Mausi Segun, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division
The UAE does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan.— UAE Foreign Ministry
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would the UAE train foreign mercenaries on its own soil? Wouldn't that be obviously risky?
It suggests a level of confidence—or perhaps calculation—that the activity wouldn't be exposed or, if exposed, that the denial would hold. The UAE has significant diplomatic weight and economic leverage. The training happened at military facilities, which implies institutional knowledge, not just a rogue operator.
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed. Are we talking about the same people, or a successor organization?
Not the same people, but the same lineage of violence. The Janjaweed were Arab militias that terrorized Darfur in the early 2000s. The RSF is what emerged from that ecosystem—more organized, better armed, and now fighting for control of an entire country. The continuity is in the methods and the targeting.
What's the significance of Colombian mercenaries specifically? Why not hire from elsewhere?
Colombia has a deep reservoir of military expertise and a large population of former soldiers. There's also an established network of private military recruitment there. The U.S. has already sanctioned Colombian-based firms for this exact activity, which suggests it's become a known pipeline.
The UAE says any private actors doing this are breaking the law. Is that plausible?
It's the standard denial. But the scale here—hundreds of mercenaries trained at state military facilities—makes it difficult to argue this happened without institutional awareness. The chair of the firm that hired them is an Emirati national. The training locations are government bases. The timing and coordination suggest something more than freelance activity.
What does the international community actually do with this information?
That's the open question. Human Rights Watch is calling for arms embargoes and suspended military cooperation. The U.S. has sanctioned the Colombian side but not the Emirati side. Europe hasn't moved. The UAE's economic and geopolitical importance makes pressure difficult. Without coordinated action, the denials may simply persist.