U.S. Treasury Sanctions Phoenix Human Resources and Jose Oscar Garcia Bat for Recruiting Colombians for RSF

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on a network accused of recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese army, with the measures announced late Friday and described as freezing assets and accounts in the United States.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that the sanctions targeted companies and individuals involved in recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight for the RSF, and it named Phoenix Human Resources S.A.S, a recruitment agency based in Bogota, and former Colombian Army colonel Jose Oscar Garcia Bat, described as the owner of a recruitment company also based in Bogota.

Al-Jazeera Net

NBC News said the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on three people and two firms over allegedly recruiting and deploying Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF, and it specified that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the sanctioned individuals and firms were involved in "recruiting and deploying former Colombian military personnel to Sudan to fight on behalf of the RSF."

The NBC News report also identified a Bogota, Colombia-based employment agency, Fénix, and said it was established last year as a replacement of another firm, A4SI, that the U.S. sanctioned in December for aiding the RSF.

The Dallas Express said the action sanctioned five individuals and entities and described the designations as issued under Executive Order 14098 for destabilizing Sudan and undermining its democratic transition.

Across the reports, the sanctions were described as blocking U.S.-held assets and restricting transactions, with the Dallas Express stating that "The designations block all U.S.-held assets of the targets and bar most American transactions involving them."

The sanctions were issued against the backdrop of a Sudan war that multiple reports date to mid-April 2023 and describe as having expanded into a large humanitarian catastrophe.

Al-Jazeera Net said the Sudanese army and the RSF have been fighting since mid-April 2023, describing a war that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced or forced to seek refuge about 15 million, according to the United Nations and local authorities.

Dallas Express

NBC News said the RSF has been at war against the Sudanese military since April 2023 and described the conflict as having entered its fourth year with no end in sight.

NBC News also traced the war’s start to tensions between the military and RSF exploding into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum on April 15, 2023, before spreading across the northeastern African nation.

It further cited that the war killed at least 59,000 people over the course of three years, according to ACLED, while adding that the war tracking group said its toll was almost certainly an underestimate given difficulties in reporting.

Al-Jazeera Net added that a study by American universities estimated the death toll at about 130,000.

The U.S. sanctions were tied to allegations that the RSF and its backers committed atrocities and that the recruitment network helped fuel military operations inside Sudan.

“Devdiscourse News Desk| Cairo | Egypt The United States has imposed sanctions on three Colombian nationals and two Colombian firms for allegedly recruiting Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”

Devdiscourse

NBC News said the RSF has been accused by rights groups of atrocities amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war which created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and it said the Treasury cited the RSF attack on the Darfur city of el-Fasher in October, which United Nations-commissioned experts said bore " the hallmarks of genocide. "

NBC News reported that at least 6,000 people were killed in just three days in that attack, according to the U.N., and it also said the State Department said in December that members of RSF had committed "war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing."

In parallel, the Dallas Express quoted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying, "It is unacceptable that the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have not committed to a humanitarian truce to address the devastating famine created by the civil war in Sudan," and it added, "They must act to end this humanitarian crisis immediately."

The Dallas Express also said the Trump administration called on both sides to accept a three-month humanitarian truce without preconditions to allow aid delivery, protect civilians, and advance ceasefire talks.

Al-Jazeera Net described the U.S. Treasury statement as accusing hundreds of former Colombian troops of fueling one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and famines, and it said the sanctions consisted of freezing all their assets and accounts in the United States.

The reports provide overlapping but not identical lists of individuals and entities described as part of the recruitment network, with multiple outlets naming Colombian figures and Bogota-based companies.

Al-Jazeera Net named Phoenix Human Resources S.A.S in Bogota, former Colombian Army colonel Jose Oscar Garcia Bat as owner of a recruitment company also based in Bogota, and Global Cua Al-Bashriya S.A.S along with its manager Omar Fernando Garcia Baty.

NBC News

NBC News named Fénix and said it was founded by Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, a retired Colombian military officer, and his wife, and it also said the latest sanctions included another Bogota-based recruitment agency, GQAB, and three individuals: Fénix's manager Quijano Torres, GQAB owner Jose Garcia Batte, and GQAB's manager and legal representative Omar Garcia Batte.

The Dallas Express described the network as including International Services Agency, or A4SI, and said Quijano and Oliveros opened Fénix Human Resources S.A.S in Bogota in February 2025 as A4SI’s replacement, with its nominal manager designated Jose Libardo Quijano Torres.

Taq Press described the network as comprising five companies and individuals and said it included a retired Colombian military officer Alvaro Andres Kihano Bisera (Kihano) and his wife Claudia Fiviana Olivros Firo (Olivros), who founded International Services Agency (A4SI), and it said A4SI relied on Talent Bridge (Talent Bridge, SA) based in Panama, formerly Global Staffing SA.

The Arabic-language Sudan Tribune report likewise listed five individuals and entities, including Álvaro Andrés Kichano Beisera, Claudia Viviana Olivares Forero, José Oscar García Bati, José Libardo Kichano Torres, and Omar Fernando García Bati, and it named A4SI, Talent Bridge S.A. (Panama), Fénix Human Resources S.A.S., and Global Qowa Al-Basheria S.A.S. (GQAB).

The sanctions were described as having immediate financial and legal consequences for the named targets and for U.S. persons dealing with them, while some reports also described attempts to continue activity under alternate business names.

Al-Jazeera Net said the new sanctions consist of freezing all their assets and accounts in the United States, and it described the Treasury’s press release as accusing hundreds of former Colombian troops of fueling one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and famines.

Akhbar as-Sudan

NBC News said the sanctions were the latest by the United States on the RSF and described the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as targeting recruiting and deploying former Colombian military personnel to Sudan to fight on behalf of the RSF, with the sanctions announced late Friday.

The Dallas Express said the designations block all U.S.-held assets of the targets and bar most American transactions involving them, and it added that U.S. persons risk civil or criminal penalties for violations.

Sudan Tribune said that in December the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on part of these entities and companies, though some appeared to attempt to evade them under alternate business names.

Across the reports, the U.S. measures were framed as part of a broader effort to push for humanitarian access, with the Dallas Express quoting the Trump administration’s call for a three-month humanitarian truce without preconditions and Taq Press saying such a truce would facilitate the flow of additional humanitarian aid.