Sudan files genocide case against UAE at top UN court

United Arab Emirates Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Mohamed Abushahab speaks to members of Security Council during a meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., April 18, 2024. The Sudanese army has repeatedly accused the UAE of providing weapons and support to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.(Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)

By Lucy Mumbi
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Sudan accused the Gulf nation of violating the genocide convention by arming and funding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s ongoing war.

Sudan has lodged a case against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the Gulf nation of violating the genocide convention by arming and funding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s ongoing war.

The ICJ announced the case on Thursday, while the UAE dismissed the filing as a "publicity stunt" and vowed to seek its immediate dismissal.

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In its filing, submitted on Wednesday, Sudan alleged that the RSF and allied militias have committed a range of atrocities, including "genocide, murder, theft of property, rape, forcible displacement, trespassing, vandalism of public properties and violation of human rights"—all of which have disproportionately targeted the Masalit people.

The UAE issued a strongly worded response, calling the case "nothing more than a cynical publicity stunt."

"The filing is aimed at diverting attention from the established complicity of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the widespread atrocities that continue to devastate Sudan and its people," the UAE said in the statement, accusing Sudan’s military of its own human rights violations.

Sudan contends that the UAE has been "complicit in the genocide on the Masalit through its direction of and provision of extensive financial, political and military support for the rebel RSF militia."

The Sudanese government has also requested the ICJ to impose urgent interim measures, compelling the UAE to take immediate action to prevent further killings and crimes against the Masalit community.

Both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention, which obligates states to prevent and punish acts of genocide.

Sudan has been embroiled in war since April 2023, when tensions between the military and the RSF erupted into full-scale conflict, engulfing the capital Khartoum and other regions. The war has killed more than 24,000 people and displaced over 14 million, according to estimates by the United Nations.

More than 3.2 million Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries.

The ICJ case comes less than two weeks after the RSF and its allies signed a charter aimed at forming a parallel government, following recent territorial losses to Sudan’s army.

The U.S.-funded Conflict Observatory has documented alleged UAE arms transfers to the RSF, identifying aircraft that transported weapons through Aéroport International Maréchal Idriss Deby in Amdjarass, Chad. The UAE has denied these allegations, asserting that its flights were intended to support a local hospital.

In January, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, widely known as Hemedti, and seven RSF-linked companies operating in the UAE, including one handling gold reportedly smuggled out of Sudan. The U.S. has since formally declared that the RSF is committing genocide.

The UAE, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, has repeatedly denied accusations of arming the RSF, despite mounting evidence. It has maintained that it supports an immediate ceasefire in Sudan.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces’ application to the ICJ does not absolve it from its legal and moral responsibility for its criminal acts and the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the country," the UAE said in its statement.