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
In 2025, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court upheld the unfair convictions and abusive sentences of 53 human rights defenders and dissidents in the country’s second-largest mass trial. The UAE has promoted a public image of tolerance and openness while restricting scrutiny of its rampant systemic human rights violations and fossil fuel expansion. Migrant workers in the UAE face widespread abuses including wage theft and inadequate protection against dangerous heat-related health risks. A growing body of evidence indicates that the UAE has been providing support to the Rapid Support Forces, an abusive warring party in Sudan that has carried out atrocities amounting to crimes against humanity in the devastating conflict in Sudan.
March 17, 2026
The UAE’s Role in the Deployment of Colombian Fighters and Other Backing to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan
Individuals, Companies Targeted in Sweeping Reprisal
Authorities Should End Prolonged Solitary Confinement, Drop Charges
End Arbitrary Detention, Use of Unofficial Prison Sites; Allow Access to Facilities
Al-Qaradawi Arbitrarily Detained in Near Incommunicado Conditions
Syrian Authorities Should Reject Any UAE Request for Extradition
Unjustly Imprisoned for 13 Years
Avoid Complicity in Abuse of Migrant Workers, Others
Emirati Attorney General Appealed Against Initial Dismissal of their Cases