Africa — 2026-05-30

HRW Documents UAE-Trained Colombian Mercenaries Fighting With RSF in Sudan

A May 25 Human Rights Watch report documents that GSSG, an Abu Dhabi security company with ties to the UAE's presidential court, deployed at least 300 Colombian private military contractors alongside the RSF in Sudan from August 2024 onward 12. Contractors transited through UAE military bases at Ghiyathi and Al Wathba, bypassing passport controls, before routing through Libya, Somalia's Puntland, and Chad to reach Darfur 1. Two Colombian contractors told HRW they participated directly in RSF operations; one reported training RSF child soldiers as young as 13 near Nyala around April 2025 13. The UAE denied providing any military support to either warring party in a November 2025 statement to the Associated Press 1.

Analysis
The HRW report shifts the evidentiary burden from allegation to documented state facilitation: transit through UAE military installations, passport bypass, and a GSSG-presidential court link collectively undercut Abu Dhabi's denial posture in ways no secondary amplification could reverse. The child soldier training allegation further exposes UAE-proxied actors to IHL complicity liability, not merely sanctions risk. Colombia's Attorney General is unlikely to open a formal criminal investigation into GSSG or affiliated entities by September 1, 2026. Moderate confidence rests on Bogotá's historical tolerance for private military recruitment. The 2015 Yemen deployment generated no prosecutions, and no bilateral legal framework with Abu Dhabi exists to support extraterritorial PMC accountability within that window.
4 sources
  1. From Bogotá to El Fasher: The UAE's Role in the Deployment of Colombian Fighters and Other Backing to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan - Human Rights Watch
  2. Sudan: UAE-Linked Colombian Fighters Deployed With RSF - Human Rights Watch
  3. Atrocities in Sudan backed by Colombian mercenaries trained at UAE bases, says report - Middle East Eye
  4. UAE accused of training Colombian mercenaries for Sudan's war - The Washington Post

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