Sudan is suing the United Arab Emirates before the International Court

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The Sudan has filed a lawsuit against the United Arab Emirates at the International Court of Justice. In this, the Emirates are accused of violating their commitments from the Genocide Convention by arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The International Court of Justice announced this on Thursday.

reaction of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates have said that they will ask for an immediate dismissal of the lawsuit, since it is said to have "no legal or actual basis", said a UAE officer in a statement to Reuters.

background of the allegations

The allegations are related to intensive ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF and allied Arab militia on the non-Arabian Masalite strain in West Darfur in 2023. These attacks were classified as a genocide by the United States in January and documented comprehensively by Reuters.

sanctions against the RSF

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to an inquiry for comment. Reuters has a copy of the Sudanese government's application. Sudanese officials often accuse the VAE to support the RSF, the government's rivals in the civil war that lasted almost two years. These allegations are rejected by the VAE, but UN-Experten and US legislator

allegations of the genocide

Before the International Court of Justice states that the RSF committed "genocide, murder, theft of property, rape, forced displacement, trespassing, vandalism of public owners and human rights violations". According to a declaration by the Court of Justice, all of these actions were "enabled by the direct support of the United Arab Emirates for the rebellious RSF militias and related militia groups".

opinion of the VAE

An official of the VAE said: "The VAE is aware of the recent application by the representative of the Sudanese armed forces at the International Court of Justice, which is nothing more than a cynical PR campaign in order to distract from the Sudanese armed forces that are widespread, which continue to devastate Sudan and its people."

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan

The VAE assert that they feel obliged to cope with the humanitarian crisis and have "consistently called for an immediate ceasefire" in Sudan.

Current situation in Sudan

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which broke out after a power struggle over the integration of the armed forces in April 2023, devastated. He has spread hunger and diseases and carries the risk of fragmentation of the country, while several foreign powers are involved in the conflict.

ethnic attacks and international reactions

The fights triggered ethnic attacks in several regions, with the bloodiest in western Darfur took place. Survivors reported Reuters that Masalite boys were deliberately murdered and young women were raped, immediately after the outbreak of the war.

future of the legal dispute

The International Court of Justice, as the highest U.n. court for disputes between states and violations of international contracts, will examine the Sudan's lawsuit. Both, the Sudan and the VAE, are signatories of the 1948 genocide convention. Sudan asks the court to order emergency measures and to oblige the VAE to prevent such genocidal actions.

While the hearing to the emergency measures should take place in the coming weeks before the Court of Justice, it will take years for the court to make a final judgment that could clarify whether a genocide has taken place in Darfur.

The RSF and allied political groups have started to establish a parallel government to army-oriented control that Port Sudan on the Red Sea-a step that was rejected by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Reporting by Reuters' Maha El Dahan, Stephanie van den Berg, Khalid Abdelaziz and Bart Meijer; Writing from Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Toby Chopra, William Maclean.