Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of aiding genocide in Darfur and called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to urgently intervene by issuing emergency measures to prevent further atrocities.
Addressing the UN’s top court in The Hague on Thursday, Sudan’s acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, claimed the UAE was violating international law by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias in their 2023 campaign against the non-Arab Masalit community in West Darfur.
“The genocide against the Masalit is being carried out by the RSF, believed to be Arab from Darfur, with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates,” Osman told the panel of judges.
The UAE has pushed back, urging the court to dismiss the case entirely, arguing that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction. “It is clear beyond doubt that there is no jurisdiction,” said Reem Ketait, a senior official from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We therefore call upon the court to remove the case from the general list.”
Sudan’s case revolves around mounting evidence that RSF fighters, with alleged external support, led brutal ethnic attacks against the Masalit in 2023. These assaults, extensively documented by Reuters, were described by the United States as acts of genocide in January.
Sudanese officials accuse the UAE of funnelling arms and resources to the RSF in the broader context of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, now in its second year. While the UAE denies supplying weapons to either side, both UN experts and U.S. lawmakers have cited credible evidence suggesting otherwise.
“The UAE has not provided any arms or related materiel to either of the warring parties,” Ketait told the court.
Sudan is now urging the ICJ to impose emergency orders on the UAE to halt any actions that could contribute to genocidal acts, particularly as tensions in West Darfur remain dangerously high.
