Sudan filed a case at the top United Nations court accusing the United Arab Emirates of breaching the genocide convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s deadly conflict, the court announced on Thursday.
The UAE called the filing a publicity stunt and said it would seek to have the case dismissed.
The International Court of Justice said Sudan’s case, filed Wednesday, concerns acts allegedly perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias including “genocide, murder, theft of property, rape, forcible displacement, trespassing, vandalism of public properties, and violation of human rights” targeting the Masalit people.
The United Arab Emirates issued a statement after the filing asserting the case was a “nothing more than a cynical publicity stunt”.
TRT Global - Fierce clashes have been reported between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan's capital Khartoum.
The UAE statement said the allegations in Sudan’s case “lack any legal or factual basis, representing yet another attempt to distract from this calamitous war. Out of respect for the International Court of Justice, as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the UAE will seek the immediate dismissal of this baseless application”.
Sudan alleges that the UAE was “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”, the court said.
Sudan also asked the court to impose urgent interim orders known as provisional measures on the UAE, including doing all it can to prevent the killing and other crimes targeting the Masalit.
Both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention.
Sudan descended into a deadly conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary rebels broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions.
The war has killed more than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30 percent of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have escaped to neighbouring countries.
Rulings by the International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, take years to reach and are legally binding.
