---
title: "Sudan tells World Court UAE fuels Darfur genocide"
description: "THE HAGUE, April 10 (Reuters) - Sudan on Thursday told the International Court of Justice that the United Arab Emirates was violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in Darfur and asked judges to issue emergency preventative orders."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Genocide Convention"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-04-10-sudan-tells-world-court-uae-fuels-darfur-genocide/"
published: "2025-04-10T13:01:06"
updated: "2025-04-10T13:01:07"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 295
---

# Sudan tells World Court UAE fuels Darfur genocide

> THE HAGUE, April 10 (Reuters) - Sudan on Thursday told the International Court of Justice that the United Arab Emirates was violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in Darfur and asked judges to issue emergency preventative orders.

By Reuters · Published 10 April 2025, 15:01 SAST · Updated 10 April 2025, 15:01 SAST

## Key points
- In a dramatic twist worthy of a courtroom thriller, Sudan accuses the UAE of playing puppet master in genocide against the Masalit tribe, while the UAE retorts that it's all just a poorly scripted political drama, leaving the International Court of Justice to ponder whether it’s a case of justice or just a case.
- Sudan files a complaint at the ICJ, alleging genocide against the Masalit tribe by the Rapid Support Forces and UAE-backed militias in West Darfur.
- The UAE dismisses the allegations as a political maneuver and defends its actions amid ongoing civil conflict in Sudan.
- Sudan's justice minister calls for the court to compel the UAE to prevent further genocidal acts against the Masalit.
- Legal experts suggest the ICJ may reject the case due to jurisdiction issues stemming from UAE's reservations on the genocide treaty.

## Content

Sudan's complaint to the Hague-based ICJ - known as the World Court - is in connection with intense ethnic-based attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias against the non-Arab Masalit tribe in 2023 in West Darfur, [documented in detail](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/sudan-politics/) by Reuters.

The UAE has repeatedly [dismissed](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL6N3QB0J6&linkedFromStory=true) the filing of the case as a political game.

"The genocide against the Masalit is being carried out by the Rapid Support Force, believed to be Arab from Darfur, with the support and complicity of the United Arab Emirates," Sudan's acting justice minister Muawia Osman, told the United Nations' top court.

Attacks against the Masalit were [determined to be genocide](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N3M70BT&linkedFromStory=true) by the United States in January.

Sudan accuses the UAE of arming the RSF which have been fighting the Sudanese army in a [two-year-old civil war](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N36K23G&linkedFromStory=true) - a charge the UAE denies but [U.N. experts](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3N41TM&linkedFromStory=true) and [U.S. lawmakers](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3OK0M4&linkedFromStory=true) have found credible.

"This is not a legitimate legal action; it is a cynical and baseless PR stunt, designed to distract from the Sudanese Armed Forces' own appalling record of atrocities," Reem Ketait, a top official at the UAE ministry of foreign affairs, told journalists on Thursday.

The justice minister asked the court to order the UAE to prevent genocidal acts against the Masalit.

As cases before the ICJ can take years to reach a final conclusion, states can ask for emergency measures which are meant to ensure the dispute between the states does not escalate in the meantime.

ICJ experts have said that the UAE signed the genocide treaty but made reservations to the court's legal power to rule on disputes, making it likely the court will eventually throw out the case because it lacks jurisdiction.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alison Williams)