The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has dismissed a case filed by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces involved in the Darfur conflict.
In a ruling delivered on Monday, the court said it lacked jurisdiction to impose provisional measures against the UAE, and its judges voted to close the case. Sudan had filed the complaint in March, alleging that the UAE had armed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which Khartoum claimed were committing genocide against the Masalit ethnic group in western Sudan.
The UAE welcomed the ruling. Reem Ketait, Deputy Assistant Minister for Political Affairs, called the decision “a clear and decisive affirmation of the fact that this case was utterly baseless.”
“The Court’s finding that it is without jurisdiction confirms that this case should never have been brought,” she added. “Quite simply, today’s decision represents a resounding rejection of the Sudanese Armed Forces’ attempt to instrumentalize the Court for its campaign of misinformation and to distract from its own responsibility.”
Ketait also stated that the UAE holds no responsibility for the conflict in Sudan. “The facts speak for themselves: the UAE bears no responsibility for the conflict in Sudan. On the contrary, the atrocities committed by the warring parties are well-documented,” she said.
Sudan’s acting justice minister, Muawia Osman, had told the court that “a genocide is being committed against the ethnic group of the Masalit in the west of our country,” with alleged “support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates.”
The conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The civil war has displaced millions, devastated infrastructure, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have so far failed.
The ICJ, based in The Hague, settles legal disputes between states and rules on interpretations of international treaties. Both Sudan and the UAE are parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention.
