UN court rejects genocide case against UAE
The International Court of Justice has dismissed a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of violating the Genocide Convention. The African country accuses the UAE of supporting paramilitary forces involved in ethnic violence in the former's Darfur region.
In a decision on Monday, 14 of 16 judges concluded that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the complaint, citing the UAE's reservation to a key provision of the convention that limits the ICJ's authority in state disputes.
Sudan filed the case in March, alleging that the Emirates provided arms and funding to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023 and accused of committing atrocities against civilians, particularly the Masalit ethnic group in West Darfur.
The UAE has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them 'baseless,' and asked the World Court to dismiss the case.
'The Court is deeply concerned about the unfolding human tragedy in Sudan that forms the backdrop to the present dispute. The violent conflict has a devastating effect, resulting in untold loss of life and suffering, in particular in West Darfur,' ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said, reading the decision.
'The scope of the case before the Court is, however, necessarily circumscribed by the basis of jurisdiction invoked in the Application,' the judge stated in the ruling, which also denied Sudan's request for emergency measures to halt alleged atrocities in West Darfur.
The jurists also voted nine to seven to remove the case entirely from the ICJ list.
The Emirati government welcomed the decision, calling it a 'categorical rejection of Sudan's false claim.'
'The decision clearly and unequivocally confirms that the case is without merit… [It] represents a decisive rejection of the Sudanese Armed Forces' attempt to exploit the court to spread misinformation and divert attention from its responsibility in the conflict,' said Reem Ketait, Emirati deputy assistant minister for political affairs.
More than 24,000 people have been killed in Sudan's two-year conflict, with over 14 million displaced and half the population facing acute hunger, according to the United Nations.
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