Watch in full: ICJ hears Sudan's case accusing UAE of 'complicity in genocide'
The International Court of Justice on Thursday began oral hearings in the case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of breaching the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
It is a historic precedent for the UN's top court to hear a case against an Arab country for allegedly violating the 1948 convention.
Sudan filed its application on 5 March 2025 over the UAE's alleged complicity in acts of genocide against the Masalit community since at least 2023.
In its application, Sudan said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group and allied militias had perpetrated genocide, murder, theft, rape and forcible displacement, and was "enabled" to do so by direct support from the UAE.
Sudan contended that the Emiratis were "complicit in the genocide on the Masalit through its direction of and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia".
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Khartoum requested that the world court implement a number of provisional measures, including ordering the UAE to take measures to prevent: the killing and causing serious harm towards the Masalit, deliberately inflicting conditions to bring about the physical destruction of the group, and the imposition of measures that are intended to prevent births within the group.
It also called for provisional measures ordering the UAE to ensure that any armed units supported by it do not carry out or attempt genocidal acts and do not directly or publicly incite to commit genocide.
Middle East Eye has reported on the network of supply lines that exist to funnel arms and other goods from the UAE to the RSF, via allied groups and governments in Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. The UAE denies providing support to the RSF.
Last year, an independent inquiry carried out by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre found that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and its allied militias “have committed and are committing genocide against the Masalit,” a Black African group in the country.
West Darfur state was the site of intense ethnic-based attacks by the RSF and its allied Arab militias against the Masalit in 2023.
The Raoul Wallenberg Centre report found that there were “reasonable grounds to believe the RSF and allied militias are responsible for genocide against non-Arab groups other than the Masalit, including the Fur and Zaghawa”.
It named the UAE, among other countries, as being “complicit in the genocide”.
The RSF and Sudan’s army have been at war since April 2023. The conflict has displaced more than 10 million people, and left over 12 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
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