Sudan's Acting Minister of Justice, Muawia Osman Muhammad Khair sits next to Omaima M. A. Alsharief, Minister Plenipotentiary and Chargé d'Affaires a.i. (acting) of the Embassy of the Republic of The Sudan in The Hague, at the International Court of Justice for a case brought by Sudan to the World Court demanding emergency measures against the UAE and accusing the Gulf state of violating obligations under the Genocide Convention by arming paramilitary forces, in The Hague, Netherlands, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Sudan told the International Court of Justice on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates was violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in Darfur,but the UAE argued the case should be thrown out as the court lacked jurisdiction.
Sudan asked the judges to issue emergency preventative orders in the case, focused on intense ethnic-based attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias against the non-Arab Masalittribe in 2023 in West Darfur,documented in detailby Reuters.
"The genocide against theMasalitis 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,MuawiaOsman, told the United Nations' top court.
The UAE has repeatedlydismissed the filing of the case as a political game and have argued the ICJ, also known as the World Court, has no legal power to hear Sudan's claim and asked judges to throw out the case.
"It is clear beyond doubt that there is no jurisdiction. We therefore call upon the court to remove the case from the general list," ReemKetait, a top official at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the court.
Sudan accuses the UAEof arming the RSF which have been fighting the Sudanese army in atwo-year-old civil war- a charge the UAE denies butU.N. expertsandU.S. lawmakershave found credible.
"Since the start of the war, the UAE has not provided any arms or related materiel to either of the warring parties," Ketait told judges on Thursday.
Attacks against the Masalit were determined to be genocideby the U.S. in January.
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.
The Sudanese justice minister asked the court to order the UAE to prevent genocidal acts against the Masalit.
The judges generally rule on possible emergency preventative measures in a few weeks after the initial hearings.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alison Williams, William Maclean)
