The difference between a crime and a conspiracy
In the long and troubled history of proxy warfare, a new chapter has been documented: Human Rights Watch reports that the United Arab Emirates trained hundreds of Colombian mercenaries on its own soil before deploying them to Sudan, where they fought alongside a paramilitary force accused of genocide. The Rapid Support Forces, heirs to the Janjaweed militias that ravaged Darfur two decades ago, have now claimed at least 59,000 lives in a war that began as a power struggle and has metastasized into something far darker. The evidence — videos, testimony, UN findings — accumulates against a backdrop of official denial, raising the oldest of questions: when atrocity is documented and the world watches, what does inaction say about those who choose it?
- A Human Rights Watch report has drawn a direct line from UAE military facilities to the killing fields of Sudan, documenting a deliberate pipeline of trained mercenaries deployed to fight alongside forces accused of genocide.
- Colombian fighters trained by Emirati nationals were not merely observers — they operated drones, commanded armored vehicles, trained child soldiers, and participated in direct combat across Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan.
- The October assault on el-Fasher, where at least 6,000 people were killed in three days, has been assessed by UN-commissioned experts as bearing the hallmarks of genocide, with verified footage showing Colombian mercenaries fighting in the offensive.
- The UAE has issued blanket denials, but the private security firm at the center of the operation — based in Abu Dhabi and chaired by an Emirati national — has not responded to requests for comment.
- The United States has sanctioned Colombian recruiters but has conspicuously avoided confronting the alleged Emirati role, leaving Human Rights Watch to call on the EU and other nations to suspend military cooperation and arms sales to the UAE.
Human Rights Watch released a report this week documenting what it describes as a deliberate pipeline: the United Arab Emirates trained hundreds of Colombian mercenaries at facilities in the Al Dhafra region and Abu Dhabi, then deployed them to Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces — a paramilitary group that emerged from the Janjaweed militias responsible for the Darfur atrocities of the early 2000s.
Once trained by Emirati nationals, the mercenaries were sent across Sudan to work directly with the RSF. One Colombian fighter told the rights group he trained RSF recruits near Nyala in South Darfur — many of them young children. A UN panel of experts documented the mercenaries operating drones, manning artillery, commanding armored vehicles, and engaging in direct combat. In February, an RSF commander publicly acknowledged that Colombian fighters had helped his forces operate drones.
The operation ran through a private security firm called Global Security Services Group, based in Abu Dhabi and chaired by an Emirati national. Neither the firm nor Emirati authorities responded to HRW's requests for comment. The UAE's Foreign Ministry issued a blanket denial, insisting the country does not permit its territory to be used for deploying foreign fighters and that any private entity doing so would face criminal prosecution.
The evidence strains that denial. Verified videos show Colombian mercenaries fighting alongside the RSF during the assault on el-Fasher — an offensive UN experts say bore the hallmarks of genocide, with at least 6,000 killed in three days. The broader war, now in its third year, has claimed at least 59,000 lives, a figure widely considered an undercount.
The United States has sanctioned Colombian recruiters but has not addressed the alleged Emirati role. Human Rights Watch is calling on the EU and other nations to stop accepting UAE denials and to suspend military cooperation and arms sales until the support ends. Whether that pressure will move beyond rhetoric remains the open and urgent question.
Human Rights Watch released a report this week documenting what it says is a deliberate pipeline: the United Arab Emirates trained hundreds of Colombian mercenaries at military facilities, then sent them to Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of atrocities that amount to war crimes and genocide.
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. Once trained by Emirati nationals, these mercenaries were deployed across Sudan to work directly with the RSF, which emerged from the feared Janjaweed militias that terrorized Darfur in the early 2000s. The RSF itself was born from that lineage of violence.
One Colombian mercenary interviewed by the rights group described training RSF recruits at camps near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, in April of last year. Many of those recruits, he said, were young children. The mercenaries' work went beyond training: a United Nations panel of experts documented them operating drones, manning artillery, commanding armored vehicles, and participating in direct combat across multiple regions of Sudan—Khartoum, Omdurman, Darfur, Kordofan. In February, an RSF commander publicly acknowledged that Colombian fighters had helped his forces operate drones.
The mercenaries were hired through a private security firm called Global Security Services Group, based in Abu Dhabi and chaired by an Emirati national named Mohammed Hamdan Al-Zaabi. When Human Rights Watch pressed for comment, neither the firm nor Emirati authorities responded. The UAE's Foreign Ministry, however, issued a blanket denial: the country does not permit its territory to be used for recruiting, training, financing, or moving foreign fighters to any conflict, it said. Any private individual or entity doing so would be acting without state authorization and would face criminal prosecution.
The evidence, though, points in a different direction. Human Rights Watch verified videos showing what appear to be Colombian mercenaries fighting alongside the RSF during the October assault on el-Fasher, a city in Darfur. That offensive, according to UN-commissioned experts, bore the hallmarks of genocide. In three days, at least 6,000 people were killed. The broader war, which began in April 2023 as a power struggle between Sudan's military and the RSF, has claimed at least 59,000 lives over three years—though that figure is almost certainly low given how difficult it is to count the dead in an active conflict.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Colombian-based firms and individuals accused of recruiting and deploying mercenaries to the RSF. But it has not addressed the alleged Emirati role, despite documented evidence and despite the RSF's well-documented pattern of summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, sexual violence, and torture across the territories it controls. Human Rights Watch is calling on the international community—the European Union, other nations—to stop accepting the UAE's denials and to suspend military cooperation and arms sales until the support ends. The question now is whether that pressure will move beyond rhetoric.
Notable Quotes
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
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that these mercenaries were trained in the UAE rather than, say, recruited directly in Sudan?
Because it shows deliberate state infrastructure. This wasn't a few individuals slipping across borders. This was military facilities, Emirati trainers, a structured pipeline. It's the difference between a crime and a conspiracy.
The UAE denies everything. How confident is Human Rights Watch in its evidence?
They interviewed the mercenaries themselves, verified videos, cross-checked with UN experts. They have named names—the security firm, its chairman. The denial is categorical, but the evidence is granular.
What's the practical effect of these Colombian fighters on the ground?
They're not just soldiers. They're operating drones, artillery, vehicles. They're multiplying the RSF's capability. A group of armed men becomes a mechanized force.
Why hasn't the US sanctioned the UAE the way it sanctioned Colombian recruiters?
That's the real question. The US has documented the RSF's atrocities. It knows about the Emirati connection. But the UAE is a strategic partner in the Gulf. Sanctions have costs.
Is there any chance the UAE is telling the truth—that this is rogue actors, not policy?
Possible, but the scale argues against it. Hundreds of mercenaries, two military bases, Emirati trainers. That's not a few bad actors. That's infrastructure.
What happens next?
International pressure, probably. But unless countries actually suspend arms sales and military ties, the denials will hold. The mercenaries will keep training. The war will keep going.