As Sudan's genocide case against UAE opens at ICJ, legal shield under fire
The war in Sudan has been described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14.6 million people displaced and 30.4 million in need of aid, according to the International Rescue Committee.
DUBAI — Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates of complicity in genocide on Thursday during a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, challenging the legal immunity Abu Dhabi claims shields it from such proceedings.
At issue is a reservation the UAE made in 2005 when it joined the Genocide Convention, specifically opting out of Article IX, which grants the ICJ authority to resolve disputes between states under the treaty. Sudan argued on Thursday that the reservation is invalid and should not prevent the court from hearing the case.
In a two-hour session, Sudan presented what it described as sufficient evidence “that the UAE is not only failing to prevent genocide, but is also complicit in genocide” for supporting the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group accused of mass atrocities in the Darfur region.
Sudan alleged in its case that the UAE-backed RSF and allied militias committed "genocide, murder, theft of property, rape, forcible displacement, trespassing, vandalism of public properties and violation of human rights."
