Necva Tastan Sevinc
06 March 2025•Update: 06 March 2025
ISTANBUL
Sudan filed a case Wednesday against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for being “complicit in the genocide on the Masalit” in West Darfur through its “direction of and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia.”
Sudan alleged that the UAE enabled “genocide, murder, theft of property, rape, forcible displacement, trespassing, vandalism of public properties, and violation of human rights” with its backing of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias.
The filing claimed that the UAE had taken actions “in connection with the genocide against the Masalit group in the Republic of the Sudan since at least 2023.”
Sudan requested the ICJ impose emergency measures, calling on the UAE to “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II” of the Genocide Convention, including “killing members of the group” and “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”
The UAE rejected Sudan’s accusations, which were also raised at the UN Security Council, denying the claims that it supplied weapons and ammunition to the RSF, which has been fighting Sudanese forces for almost one year.
The Sudanese army and the rival RSF group have been fighting since April 2023 in a war that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
International and UN calls for an end to the war are mounting, warning of an impending humanitarian catastrophe as millions face famine and death due to food shortages. The conflict has spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states.
