DUBAI,— Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday that Colombian private military contractors recruited by a United Arab Emirates based company passed through UAE military facilities before being deployed to Sudan to support the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

The group said this is further evidence that the UAE is assisting or contributing to the RSF capacity to commit war crimes.

The 83-page report, From Bogotá to El Fasher: UAE’s Role in the Deployment of Colombian Fighters and Other Backing to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, says that since 2024 the Abu Dhabi-based security firm Global Security Services Group (GSSG) has hired hundreds of Colombian contractors.

It adds that they were deployed to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Some were in El Fasher, Darfur, in October 2025 when the RSF took the city and committed widespread killings and rape. The UN International Fact Finding Mission on Sudan said those events had hallmarks of genocide.

Mausi Segun said the recruitment adds to evidence of UAE support for the RSF, which has committed atrocities, and urged governments to demand the UAE stop providing weapons, equipment, personnel.

Human Rights Watch interviewed two Colombian contractors, a former GSSG employee, eight El Fasher residents, and seven other sources including former Colombian military officers.

It reviewed documents and verified online photos and videos, some showing contractors fighting with the RSF and training in UAE facilities.

Although recruitment was conducted by private entities, Human Rights Watch found recruits transited UAE military sites in Ghiyathi and Al Wathba in Abu Dhabi.

One contractor said passports were not stamped and immigration controls were bypassed, and that he was taken to Ghiyathi for training by Emirati nationals. Four other contractors were verified in media showing stopovers in the UAE before Sudan deployment.

The first public evidence of Colombians in Sudan appeared in social media videos in November 2024, 19 months into the war, after the Joint Forces of the Armed Movements, aligned with the SAF, intercepted a convoy entering from Libya.

The Colombians carried Bulgarian made 81 millimeter shells. France 24 reported these were diverted from UAE armed forces stockpiles.

The shells were among equipment that reached the RSF in breach of end user agreements, according to Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and France 24.

Human Rights Watch verified videos showing Colombian contractors fighting in El Fasher during the RSF takeover in late 2025.

Residents reported killings, rape, starvation, and attacks on disabled people. Six witnesses described white foreign fighters at mass killing sites wearing helmets, body armor, and kneepads matching video evidence.

One contractor said he trained RSF recruits near Nyala, the RSF base in South Darfur, around April 2025, and said many recruits were children. La Silla Vacía reported contractor involvement in training child soldiers.

International law bans recruitment of children in armed conflict and treats it as a war crime under age 15. The UN secretary general verified 16 RSF child recruitment cases in 2024 and listed the group for grave violations against children.

GSSG was founded in 2016 by Ahmed Mohammed al Humairi of the UAE presidential court, The Sentry said.

He reports to UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In 2017 he transferred shares to Mohamed Hamdan al Zaabi.

GSSG calls itself the first licensed armed private security company in the UAE and claimed UAE ministries as clients and exclusive government provider.

A former employee said ruling family members were likely clients, supported by leaked emails reviewed by Human Rights Watch. Al Zaabi remains partnered with al Humairi.

The UAE denies military support to the RSF, calling its role humanitarian. Human Rights Watch said UAE authorities would be aware of activity on state property and military bases in a centralized system, and UAE law requires coordination with authorities.

Human Rights Watch said it contacted GSSG and UAE authorities but received no response.

It urged the UN Security Council to investigate GSSG and al Zaabi for possible violations of the 2004 Darfur arms embargo and consider sanctions.

It also called on the EU, African Union, and other actors to investigate, impose targeted sanctions, and suspend military cooperation and arms sales to the UAE.

Segun said civilians are paying the price of weak action and urged governments to stop accepting UAE denials that contradict evidence said said.

(With files from Human Rights Watch/hrw.org)

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