PREVIEW
UN experts have accused UAE of arming Hemeti’s militia, but the monarchy has escaped serious censure for its policy so far
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan has escalated the propaganda war against President Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahayan (MBZ) and the United Arab Emirates, launching a case against Abu Dhabi at the International Court of Justice for complicity in the genocide of the Masalit people in Darfur by financing arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This follows the lead of South Africa which has won some diplomatic and legal kudos from launching a case at the ICJ against Israel for genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Beyond putting spotlight on the UAE monarchy’s sponsorship and arming of the RSF since the start of the war in April 2023, the SAF’s case at the ICJ will also tie in President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno’s government which has facilitated the delivery of arms from the UAE to the RSF from an airstrip at Amdjarass in eastern Chad (AC Vol 66 No 5, Hemeti struggles to launch in Nairobi, again). A UN experts’ report last year cited ‘credible reports’ documenting the arms deliveries; some included footage showing pallets on the tarmac at Amdjarass with khaki crates bearing UAE flags. It could put the spotlight on other countries – such as Uganda and Libya – accused of helping to deliver UAE arms to the RSF.
Gen Burhan is using the legal status of the SAF regime in Port Sudan as the internationally recognised government to launch the case against UAE at the ICJ. It accuses the RSF under the leadership of Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemeti’ of committing ‘genocide, murder, theft, rape’ and other crimes. According to Sudan, all such acts have been ‘perpetrated and enabled by the direct support’ given by the UAE.
Sudan has asked for a restraining order against the UAE, to ensure that any armed units or persons over whom they have influence, or control must be prevented from committing genocidal acts against the Masalit people. Should the judges grant the restraining order, they lack an enforcement mechanism, and the UN Security Council has been reluctant to sanction the UAE for its role in Sudan’s war.
But the ICJ case could deliver a serious blow against the UAE’s well-funded public relations campaign which insists that it delivers only humanitarian aid – not weapons – to Sudan.
The RSF’s launch in Nairobi in February of a parallel government that points to the partition of Sudan may have triggered Burhan’s latest move. (AC Vol 66 No 5, Mahamat’s UAE ties could unravel). Hemeti’s parallel government plan has been bankrolled by his business partners and top officials in the UAE. It adds that the UAE ‘must make full reparation for the injury caused [by] its internationally wrongful acts’.
The lawsuit is also a sign of the SAF’s growing strength following a series of major territorial gains in El Fasher, Khartoum and elsewhere.
The UAE has rejected Sudan's allegations, describing the case as a ‘cynical publicity stunt’.
There may be counter claims too. The SAF like the RSF, has also been responsible for atrocities and war crimes since the start of the war. Last October, the UAE Ambassador’s residence in Khartoum was bombed, an attack which Abu Dhabi blamed on the SAF.
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