ICJ Dismisses Sudan’s Genocide Case Against UAE Over Darfur Conflict
Court Rules It Lacks Jurisdiction to Hear Sudan’s Allegations That UAE Funded Genocide in West Darfur via Support to RSF Militias.
Watan-The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of violating the Genocide Convention by arming and funding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
The judges concluded that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction to proceed with the case. While both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, the UAE maintains a reservation that excludes the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court on certain treaty provisions.
Back in March, Sudan had asked the ICJ to issue several provisional measures, including an order demanding that the UAE do everything in its power to prevent killings and other crimes targeting the Masalit ethnic group in the Darfur region.
In response, the UAE dismissed the case as political propaganda, asserting in a hearing last month that the ICJ had no authority to hear the complaint.
UAE Dismisses Sudan’s Genocide Claim as Deflection Amid Ongoing Civil War
Reem Al Ketit, a senior official in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said prior to the ruling:
“The case is baseless in both law and fact. The UAE is not involved in the war, and this case is just another attempt by the Sudanese Armed Forces—one of the warring parties—to deflect from their own responsibilities.”
Sudan plunged into a bloody civil war in mid-April 2023, when long-standing tensions between the Sudanese Army and the rival RSF escalated into full-scale clashes in the capital Khartoum, eventually spreading to other regions.
Both the RSF and the Sudanese Army have been accused of committing human rights violations, including war crimes, during the conflict.
