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The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
ICJ hears Sudan case accusing UAE of ‘complicity in genocide'
The international court of justice will rule in the next few weeks on whether the United Arab Emirates can be plausibly found 'complicit in the commission of genocide' by arming the Rapid Support Forces militia in Sudan's civil war. The case was brought by Sudan, whose acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the world court in The Hague last week that the country's 'ongoing genocide would not be possible without the complicity of the UAE, including the shipment of arms to the RSF'. Sudan wants ICJ judges to force the UAE to stop its alleged support for the RSF and make 'full reparations', including compensation to victims of the war. Responding for the UAE, Reem Ketait, a top foreign ministry official, told the court: 'The idea that the UAE is somehow the driver of this reprehensible conflict in Sudan could not be further from the truth. This case is the most recent iteration of the applicant's misuse of our international institutions as a stage from which to attack the UAE.' Sudan's allegations were 'at best misleading and at worst pure fabrications', she said. The case could turn on a 'reservation' that the UAE entered when it signed up to the genocide convention in 2005 to the effect that it would not allow a dispute concerning its compliance with the convention to be settled by the ICJ. The UAE says the reservation precludes the ICJ from even forming a preliminary view as to whether the UAE is complicit in acts of genocide. It would be a severe blow to the UAE, which places great store by its international reputation, if the ICJ did anything but strike the claim from the list. But at a minimum the case's existence may serve to put further pressure on all the external partners accused of backing the warring factions to think more carefully about the support they provide. Sudan descended into a deadly conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between the military and the RSF broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions. Both sides have been accused of abuses in the course of the war. The UK and other western countries have limited power to stop the fighting. More influence rests with regional powers such as Egypt, which has longstanding ties to the Sudanese army, and the UAE, which has long been accused of arming the RSF – allegations it denies. On Tuesday a British-led attempt to establish a contact group to facilitate a ceasefire fell apart when Arab states refused to sign a joint communique after a conference in London. Analysts say UAE's interest in Sudan stems from overlapping desires to gain political influence there at the expense of Saudi Arabia, exploit its natural resources, and prevent the spread of political Islam, which UAE sees as a threat to its security. As with many claims for measures to prevent a plausible genocide, the case, which relates specifically to the RSF's treatment of the Masalit people in Darfur, is being heard at speed. The Sudanese government only filed its application on 5 March. Prof Eirik Bjorge, a law professor representing Sudan, told the court: 'There can be no doubt that the Masalit people is currently being subjected to genocide, and that there is serious evidence that the UAE is failing to prevent this and is complicit.' Bjorge quoted a panel of UN experts who in January 2024 assessed as 'credible' allegations that cargo planes coming from the UAE to an airport in eastern Chad were transporting weapons to the RSF. He also referenced Sudanese intelligence assessments that a field hospital built by the UAE next to the airport in September 2024 was 'the primary supply and support hub for the enemy [RSF]' and that Chadian flights transporting military aid were continuing as of March of this year. Sudan's lawyers pointed out in court that the Biden administration announced in January that seven RSF-owned companies in the UAE had been targeted for sanctions at the same time as the U.S. declared that RSF rebels had committed genocide. The UAE told the ICJ that none of the seven entities held an active business licence in the UAE, 'nor are they currently operating in the UAE'. Sudan also cited research by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab that identified and located four heavy artillery pieces consistent with a type of Chinese-produced 155mm howitzer artillery gun, which it considered were engaged in the 12-day bombardment of Zamzam camp in December last year. The Yale lab said the UAE was 'the only country' known to have bought this type of howitzer. The UAE's ambassador to the Netherlands, Ameirah AlHefeiti, told the court the UAE had not provided arms to either of the warring parties. Ketait said the UAE regarded the war as an entirely avoidable factional struggle and accused the Sudanese government of avoiding all UAE-backed efforts at mediation. Alison Macdonald KC, for the UAE, said the evidence produced of UAE supply of arms was thin, recycled or entirely self-serving. She added that the next UN panel of experts report, due to be published soon, would provide 'absolutely no support for the applicant's claims' – an assertion that is likely to turn on whether the panel of experts was able to establish the content of cargo shipped from the UAE to Chad.
Roya News
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Sudan takes UAE to court in Hague for alleged ‘support and complicity' in genocide
Sudan has formally accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of violating international law by allegedly supporting paramilitary forces involved in ethnic violence in its Darfur region, during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday. Speaking before the UN's highest judicial body, Sudan's acting Justice Minister Muawia Osman said a genocide is underway against the Masalit ethnic group in western Sudan, and alleged that the UAE has played a role in enabling the violence through its alleged support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group engaged in the country's civil war. 'A genocide is being committed against the ethnic group of the Masalit in the west of our country,' Osman told the court. He added that this was being carried out 'with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates.' Sudan filed the case last month under the Genocide Convention, accusing the UAE of arming the RSF and contributing to atrocities committed in the Darfur region. The UAE has strongly denied the allegations, calling them 'baseless and politically driven.' Speaking at the court, UAE representative Reem Ketait, Assistant Deputy Minister of Political Affairs, rejected the claims and questioned the ICJ's jurisdiction. 'Our only interest is in securing a lasting peace that ends the suffering of the Sudanese people and brings stability to Sudan and the wider region,' she said in a statement to CNN. The case comes amid a brutal conflict that erupted in April 2023 between Sudan's national army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, displacing millions and pushing nearly half of the country's population into severe hunger. Both Sudan and the UAE are parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which prohibits acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Sudan has asked the ICJ to impose emergency measures requiring the UAE to cease any conduct that could constitute complicity in genocide and to submit regular reports to the court. The UAE, in response, has accused Sudan of misusing the court as a platform for political messaging. 'This is nothing more than a cynical PR stunt,' Ketait said, accusing Sudan's army of attempting to deflect attention from its own actions in the conflict. International reactions have been mixed. In January, the United States officially recognized attacks against the Masalit as genocide. A UN panel last year found 'credible' evidence of foreign involvement in the conflict, including the UAE and Chad. U.S. lawmakers have since called for a halt to arms sales to the UAE pending further investigation. Sudan's legal team referenced intelligence documents claiming that weapons supplied by the UAE to the RSF are being routed through neighboring Chad. They argued that these ongoing arms transfers constitute continued support for forces accused of mass killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and destruction of property. As the ICJ proceedings begin, the humanitarian toll in Sudan continues to mount. According to the World Food Programme, about 25 million people — over half the population — are in urgent need of aid. Famine has already been declared in parts of the south and west, and is projected to spread unless the violence subsides and humanitarian access improves. 'This is a man-made crisis,' said Shaun Hughes, the World Food Programme's Regional Emergency Coordinator, at a Thursday briefing. 'And man-made because of the intentional obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian assistance by parties to the conflict.' Humanitarian organizations warn that recent funding cuts threaten to worsen the situation. Mercy Corps, which provides critical support in Sudan, says reductions in USAID funding could leave nearly 200,000 people without food or clean water. As Sudan's case progresses through the ICJ — a process that could take years — observers say the proceedings underscore growing international scrutiny of external actors involved in the country's conflict. For now, civilians in Sudan remain caught in a worsening crisis with no clear end in sight.
Egypt Independent
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Sudan accuses UAE of ‘support and complicity' in genocide at World Court
London and Abu Dhabi, UAE CNN — Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations' top court of violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in its Darfur region. 'A genocide is being committed against the ethnic group of the Masalit in the west of our country,' Sudan's acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, on Thursday. He alleged that a genocide was being carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces 'with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates.' Sudan last month filed a case against the UAE at the court for allegedly arming the RSF, an accusation that the UAE has repeatedly denied. The UAE on Thursday reiterated its rejection of Sudan's accusations, calling them 'baseless and politically driven,' adding that it 'supports neither side' in the Sudanese civil war, and that there is no evidence to support Sudan's claims. In its statement to the court, it questioned the ICJ's jurisdiction over the matter. 'Our only interest is in securing a lasting peace that ends the suffering of the Sudanese people and brings stability to Sudan and the wider region,' Reem Ketait, Assistant Deputy Minister of Political Affairs in the UAE foreign ministry, told CNN. Since April 2023, two of Sudan's most powerful generals – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and former ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary RSF – have engaged in a bloody feud over control of the country which is split between their strongholds. The ongoing civil war has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end have failed. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICJ deals with disputes between states and violations of international treaties. Sudan and the UAE are both signatories of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Osman alleged that 'direct logistic and other support' the UAE provided to the RSF and allied militias 'has been, continues to be the primary driving force behind the genocide' including 'killing, rape, forced displacement, looting and the destruction of public and private properties.' Cases before the ICJ can take years to reach a final decision, and so states can ask the court to issue emergency measures that prevent the conflict from escalating. The Sudanese minister asked the court to urgently order the UAE 'to refrain from any conduct amounting to complicity' in the alleged genocide against the Masalit, and that the Gulf state submit a report to the court within one month, and then every six months until the court comes to a final decision on the case. UAE accuses Sudan of 'cynical PR stunt' The United States in January found attacks against the Masalit to be genocide. Last year, a UN panel of experts found that the UAE's involvement, along with that of Chad, in the conflict was 'credible.' US lawmakers have also said they would hold all major US arms sales to the UAE for 'its support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who the United States determined committed genocide.' Sudan's lawyers referenced a recent Sudanese government intelligence assessment provided to the court which they said showed clear evidence that UAE-backed arms deliveries to the RSF through neighboring Chad 'continue even today.' CNN has reported extensively on the atrocities committed by the RSF and its allied militias: a gruesome massacre of non-Arab people, including the Masalit, in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, a campaign to enslave men and women there, as well as forced recruitment in Sudan's central Al Jazira state. The UAE has repeatedly rejected Sudan's allegations, with Ketait on Thursday accusing the nation of weaponizing the ICJ 'for disinformation.' Ketait told CNN that the accusations are 'nothing more than a cynical PR stunt' by the Sudan Armed Forces, adding that it is 'an attempt to deflect from its own well-documented atrocities against the Sudanese people and its refusal to cease fire or engage in genuine negotiations.' After nearly two years of fighting, civilians continue to pay the price of war The humanitarian situation in Sudan has deteriorated since fighting broke out in April 2023. Today, about 25 million people, or half the population, faces severe hunger with famine declared in five areas in southern and southwestern Sudan. Catastrophic food insecurity is expected to spread to five additional areas before June, according to the ICP monitoring group. 'This is a man-made crisis. Man made because it is driven by conflict. And man-made because of the intentional obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian assistance by parties the conflict,' the World Food Programme's Regional Emergency Coordinator Shaun Hughes said in a briefing Thursday, calling for access and safe passage for humanitarian workers and supplies. 'Humanitarian agencies don't have the influence to negotiate this on our own. It requires the world to pay attention, and coherent and tenacious engagement from the international community, particularly countries that have influence on those waging war,' Hughes added. Civilians wait outside one of the only remaining medical clinics in Zamzam camp. CNN has obscured portions of this image to protect the identity of the individuals pictured. Médecins Sans Frontières Nearly two years after the conflict broke out, civilians continue to be targeted, compounding the humanitarian situation. At the epicenter of the malnutrition crisis in Zamzam refugee camp, Sudan's largest located in North Darfur, displaced civilians have been attacked by RSF fighters. Now, cuts to USAID programs are leaving civilians in an increasingly vulnerable position, said Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Mercy Corps' vice president of global policy and advocacy. Funding cuts to Mercy Corps' programs alone threaten to leave nearly 200,000 Sudanese civilians hungry or without safe drinking water, a development that Phillips-Barrasso compared to 'turning the oxygen off in a hospital.' CNN's Mounira Elsamra contributed reporting.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sudan accuses UAE of ‘support and complicity' in genocide at World Court
Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations' top court of violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in its Darfur region. 'A genocide is being committed against the ethnic group of the Masalit in the west of our country,' Sudan's acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, on Thursday. He alleged that a genocide was being carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces 'with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates.' Sudan last month filed a case against the UAE at the court for allegedly arming the RSF, an accusation that the UAE has repeatedly denied. The UAE on Thursday reiterated its rejection of Sudan's accusations, calling them 'baseless and politically driven,' adding that it 'supports neither side' in the Sudanese civil war, and that there is no evidence to support Sudan's claims. In its statement to the court, it questioned the ICJ's jurisdiction over the matter. 'Our only interest is in securing a lasting peace that ends the suffering of the Sudanese people and brings stability to Sudan and the wider region,' Reem Ketait, Assistant Deputy Minister of Political Affairs in the UAE foreign ministry, told CNN. Since April 2023, two of Sudan's most powerful generals – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and former ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary RSF – have engaged in a bloody feud over control of the country which is split between their strongholds. The ongoing civil war has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end have failed. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICJ deals with disputes between states and violations of international treaties. Sudan and the UAE are both signatories of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Osman alleged that 'direct logistic and other support' the UAE provided to the RSF and allied militias 'has been, continues to be the primary driving force behind the genocide' including 'killing, rape, forced displacement, looting and the destruction of public and private properties.' Cases before the ICJ can take years to reach a final decision, and so states can ask the court to issue emergency measures that prevent the conflict from escalating. The Sudanese minister asked the court to urgently order the UAE 'to refrain from any conduct amounting to complicity' in the alleged genocide against the Masalit, and that the Gulf state submit a report to the court within one month, and then every six months until the court comes to a final decision on the case. The United States in January found attacks against the Masalit to be genocide. Last year, a UN panel of experts found that the UAE's involvement, along with that of Chad, in the conflict was 'credible.' US lawmakers have also said they would hold all major US arms sales to the UAE for 'its support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who the United States determined committed genocide.' Sudan's lawyers referenced a recent Sudanese government intelligence assessment provided to the court which they said showed clear evidence that UAE-backed arms deliveries to the RSF through neighboring Chad 'continue even today.' CNN has reported extensively on the atrocities committed by the RSF and its allied militias: a gruesome massacre of non-Arab people, including the Masalit, in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, a campaign to enslave men and women there, as well as forced recruitment in Sudan's central Al Jazira state. The UAE has repeatedly rejected Sudan's allegations, with Ketait on Thursday accusing the nation of weaponizing the ICJ 'for disinformation.' Ketait told CNN that the accusations are 'nothing more than a cynical PR stunt' by the Sudan Armed Forces, adding that it is 'an attempt to deflect from its own well-documented atrocities against the Sudanese people and its refusal to cease fire or engage in genuine negotiations.'
CNN
10-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Sudan accuses UAE of ‘support and complicity' in genocide at World Court
Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations' top court of violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in its Darfur region. 'A genocide is being committed against the ethnic group of the Massalit in the west of our country,' Sudan's acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, told the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, on Thursday. He alleged that a genocide was being carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces 'with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates.' Sudan last month filed a case against the UAE at the court for allegedly arming the RSF, an accusation that the UAE has repeatedly denied. The UAE on Thursday reiterated its rejection of Sudan's accusations, calling them 'baseless and politically driven,' adding that it 'supports neither side' in the Sudanese civil war, and that there is no evidence to support Sudan's claims. In its statement to the court, it questioned the ICJ's jurisdiction over the matter. 'Our only interest is in securing a lasting peace that ends the suffering of the Sudanese people and brings stability to Sudan and the wider region,' Reem Ketait, Assistant Deputy Minister of Political Affairs in the UAE foreign ministry, told CNN. Since April 2023, two of Sudan's most powerful generals – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and former ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary RSF – have engaged in a bloody feud over control of the country which is split between their strongholds. The ongoing civil war has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end have failed. Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICJ deals with disputes between states and violations of international treaties. Sudan and the UAE are both signatories of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Osman alleged that 'direct logistic and other support' the UAE provided to the RSF and allied militias 'has been, continues to be the primary driving force behind the genocide' including 'killing, rape, forced displacement, looting and the destruction of public and private properties.' Cases before the ICJ can take years to reach a final decision, and so states can ask the court to issue emergency measures that prevent the conflict from escalating. The Sudanese minister asked the court to urgently order the UAE 'to refrain from any conduct amounting to complicity' in the alleged genocide against the Masalit, and that the Gulf state submit a report to the court within one month, and then every six months until the court comes to a final decision on the case. The United States in January found attacks against the Masalit to be genocide. Last year, a UN panel of experts found that the UAE's involvement, along with that of Chad, in the conflict was 'credible.' US lawmakers have also said they would hold all major US arms sales to a UAE for 'its support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who the United States determined committed genocide.' Sudan's lawyers referenced a recent Sudanese government intelligence assessment provided to the court which they said showed clear evidence that UAE-backed arms deliveries to the RSF through neighboring Chad 'continue even today.' CNN has reported extensively on the atrocities committed by the RSF and its allied militias: a gruesome massacre of non-Arab people, including the Masalits, in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, a campaign to enslave men and women there, as well as forced recruitment in Sudan's central Al Jazira state. The UAE has repeatedly rejected Sudan's allegations, with Ketait on Thursday accusing the nation of weaponizing the ICJ 'for disinformation.' Ketait told CNN that the accusations are 'nothing more than a cynical PR stunt' by the Sudan Armed Forces, adding that it is 'an attempt to deflect from its own well-documented atrocities against the Sudanese people and its refusal to cease fire or engage in genuine negotiations.'
