ICJ Publishes Full Text of Speech Accusing UAE of Complicity in Genocide in Sudan

Watan-The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has published the full text of a speech accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of complicity in genocide in Sudan, where Khartoum presented the factual basis for its request for provisional measures to prevent genocide against the Massalit people.

On Thursday, the ICJ began oral hearings on Sudan’s request, accusing the UAE of violating the Genocide Convention and seeking provisional measures to prevent genocide.

This is a historical precedent for the UN’s highest court to consider a case against an Arab country for violating the 1948 treaty, to which both Sudan and the UAE are parties.

Sudan’s Legal Battle: Accusing UAE of Complicity in Genocide Against the Massalit

On March 5, 2023, Sudan submitted its request concerning the UAE’s alleged complicity in genocide against the Massalit community since at least 2023.

In its request, Sudan stated that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias had committed genocide, killings, theft, rape, and forced displacement, and had been able to do so with direct support from the UAE.

Sudan confirmed that the UAE was “complicit in the genocide against the Massalit by directing and providing extensive financial, political, and military support to the rebellious RSF militia.”

Sudan asked the ICJ to implement several provisional measures, including ordering the UAE to take steps to prevent: killing and causing serious harm to the Massalit people, creating conditions that lead to the physical destruction of the group, and imposing measures aimed at preventing births within the group.

Sudan also requested that the court order the UAE to ensure that no armed units supported by them carry out or attempt to commit genocide, and not to incite genocide directly or publicly.

During the hearing, Eric Bjorg, a law professor representing Sudan, presented oral arguments regarding the alleged violations of the Genocide Convention by the UAE. The lawyers also presented arguments on the court’s jurisdiction, which the UAE disputes.

Here is the full text of Bjorg’s speech:

“Mr. President, members of the Court, it is an honor to appear before you on behalf of Sudan to present the facts. As I will demonstrate, referring to United Nations sources, there is no doubt that the Massalit people are currently undergoing genocide, and there is compelling evidence that the UAE has failed to prevent it and is involved in it. I will also briefly address the existence of this dispute if the UAE wishes to raise this point.

It is well known that the Massalit ethnic group, non-Arab in Sudan, has been targeted since November 2023 by genocide and other prohibited acts, which continue to this day. The perpetrators of these acts are members of the RSF, a militia made up of Arab Darfuris, led by the former leader of the Janjaweed militia, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accurately summarized the situation in the following manner during his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Congress in January this year: ‘By definition, this is real genocide. It is the ethnic targeting of specific groups for extermination and destruction, by groups, I might add, that are funded by countries with which we have alliances and partnerships elsewhere in the world, and we must be clear about that. I believe – and part of our engagement with the UAE, and it must be practical engagement – is that they are important players in what we hope to resolve in the Middle East, and as part of this engagement, we also need to raise the fact that they are openly supporting an entity committing genocide.’

In this context – and under the circumstances where UAE’s open support for the RSF continues, despite the ongoing siege by the RSF forces on the city of Al-Fasher, which is increasingly at risk of causing further genocidal acts, and that RSF attacks on other assembly places in western and northern Darfur for the Massalit displaced by the conflict have also escalated in the past month – Sudan had no choice but to turn to the Court for urgent provisional relief.

It is important to understand why the current U.S. Secretary of State felt able to express the situation in such clear terms.

In the spring of 2023, RSF forces increased their control over territories in Darfur. During clashes in the city of Geneina, West Darfur, in May and June 2023, the RSF and their allied militias launched ‘widespread attacks on civilians, particularly the Massalit population.’

A systematic campaign to exterminate the Massalit community in the city was launched. The massacre committed by the RSF was described as ‘a flood of atrocities’ and ‘a killing frenzy.’ Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed. In these and other atrocities, the RSF targeted displaced persons’ gathering sites, which were systematically attacked, burned, and destroyed.

In November 2023, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimo Nderitu, described the events in West Darfur as follows:

‘Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including sexual slavery, were widely used as weapons of war; entire villages were burned, often after the attack plan was announced in advance; degrading language such as ‘slaves’ was continuously used as incitement to violence; living conditions were deliberately deprived, medical facilities and transportation were destroyed; people were deliberately denied access to water and electricity. All this points to the risk factors for genocide.’

A key factor in the RSF’s continuation of its genocidal campaign since June 2023 has been securing new supply routes for weapons, equipment, and logistical services for use in the conflict. As a result, the RSF was able to use many types of heavy and advanced weapons, which played a major role in their control of Geneina.

In January 2024, the UN Security Council’s expert panel on Sudan, whose members included representatives from the UAE itself, reported that the RSF’s main supply route for weapons passes through eastern Chad, which borders western Darfur.

The panel assessed claims about ‘a high frequency of cargo planes arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport and heading to Um Jaras Airport in eastern Chad… to transport weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies for the RSF,’ despite the UAE’s denial, asserting that its cargo planes were solely for humanitarian purposes. The panel concluded that the allegations against the UAE were ‘credible.’

According to information gathered by the panel from sources in Chad and Darfur, these claims were credible. Several sources from eastern Chad and Darfur, including local leaders, administrative officials, and active armed groups in those regions, informed the panel that, multiple times a week, weapons and ammunition were unloaded from cargo planes arriving at Um Jaras Airport and then loaded onto trucks.”

In its ongoing efforts to operate under the guise of humanitarian work, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) built a field hospital in September 2024 under the Red Crescent flag next to the Um Jarrass Airport. However, it is noteworthy that when the Red Cross sought to visit the hospital to understand what the UAE was doing under its protected banner, officials were denied entry “for security reasons.” The Sudanese General Intelligence Service assessed that:

Jestin Lynch, a consultant for the American non-governmental organization “Sudanese Conflict Observatory,” stated: “There is no logical explanation for these air bridges other than supporting the Rapid Support Forces with weapons”; “No one is fooled.” Similarly, the Sudanese General Intelligence Service concluded that the UAE’s field hospital at Um Jarrass Airport “is the main supply and support center for the enemy.” It also concluded that the UAE continues to use N’Djamena Airport, in western Chad, for the same purpose.

For its part, the UAE sought to describe these conclusions as nothing more than a “dual media disinformation campaign.”

Meanwhile, on January 22, 2024, the European Union added the Al-Junaid company for diverse activities to its list of sanctions against Sudan. This Sudanese holding company, which was previously listed under UK sanctions, is owned by Abdel-Rahim Dagalo, the brother of General Mohamed Hamdan, and his sons.

The reasons for its listing included a conclusion that “the Rapid Support Forces use the production and exports of Al-Junaid Company from gold to secure military support from the UAE, to which most of Sudan’s gold production is smuggled, including providing weapons used by the Rapid Support Forces in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.”

On May 21, 2024, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide gave a briefing to the Security Council at a meeting to which the UAE was invited to participate. In this meeting, she took the opportunity to “raise the alarm, unequivocally, about the current situation in Sudan, which bears all the signs of genocide, including strong allegations of the crime already being committed. Civilians are far from being protected, and civilian populations are being targeted based on their identity. In Darfur and Al-Fasher, civilians are attacked and killed because of their skin color, ethnicity, or identity.”

The Special Adviser expressed “grave concern about the attacks on the Massalit ethnic group in western Darfur, which are allegedly being committed with the explicit intent to destroy them,” and emphasized that “the humanitarian disaster in Sudan’s human rights situation contradicts the essence of international obligations to prevent and punish genocide crimes, as outlined in the Genocide Convention… The risk of genocide in Sudan is real and increasing daily.”

On June 5, 2024, the Special Adviser noted, in the context of Al-Fasher, that “there is no doubt about the risk factors and indicators of genocide and related crimes, and the risks are increasing.” On September 20, 2024, she expressed her deep concern about reports that the Rapid Support Forces had breached the third defense line around Al-Fasher and that one of the internally displaced persons camps in Al-Fasher, Abu Shouk, “was on the brink of disaster.”

Clear further evidence of the UAE’s complicity emerged following the Battle of Mount Moya in October 2024. Defeated Rapid Support Forces left behind weapons that could only have been supplied by the UAE, including ammunition boxes bearing the label “UAE, General Command of the Armed Forces, Joint Logistics Command, P.O. Box 2805, Abu Dhabi, UAE.”

Despite its clear knowledge of the ongoing genocide, the UAE continued to supply heavy weapons through Um Jarrass Airport. This included the provision of advanced drones, which were increasingly sent from Um Jarrass to Sudan.

Furthermore, the UAE helped and supported the Rapid Support Forces in recruiting mercenaries to support the attack on Al-Fasher. On November 20, 2024, a joint military force took part in an operation near the northern Darfur-Libya border. After an exchange of fire, the mission collected passports from some of the foreign mercenaries, including Colombian nationals whose passports contained UAE entry visas from the previous month.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Colombian mercenaries “were hired… by an Abu Dhabi-based company called Global Security Services,” which “presented itself as operating on behalf of the UAE government.” North African officials interviewed by The Wall Street Journal estimated the number of Colombian mercenaries sent to Sudan at about 160, while a detailed Colombian investigation estimated the number at 300.

On January 7, 2025, “after a thorough review of the facts and comprehensive legal analysis,” the U.S. Secretary of State correctly determined that genocide had been committed in Sudan, stating:

The Rapid Support Forces and their affiliated militias continued their attacks on civilians. The Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias systematically killed men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis, deliberately targeting women and girls from certain ethnic groups with rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.

These militias themselves targeted fleeing civilians, killing innocent people escaping the conflict and preventing remaining civilians from receiving life-saving supplies. Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.

As a result of this decision, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, for his role in committing systematic atrocities. Sanctions were also imposed on seven companies owned by the Rapid Support Forces, as well as one individual, for their role in supplying weapons to the militia; all of them were based in the UAE.

The UAE Ministry of Justice waited nearly four months before responding on April 4, 2025, after Sudan referred the dispute to the court. By then, the UAE had used extremely cautious language, emphasizing that “none of the seven entities have a valid commercial license in the UAE and are not currently operating there.”

Against this backdrop, as seen, the current U.S. Secretary of State in January 2025 felt compelled not only to acknowledge the ongoing genocide but also to criticize the UAE for its public support of the entity committing this genocide.

Since then, the suffering of the survivors of the Massalit group in northern and western Darfur has worsened. There are thousands of Massalit in northern Darfur, particularly in Al-Fasher and Zamzam Camp, many of whom are internally displaced.

The Rapid Support Forces are currently mustering larger forces and intensifying their attacks with the goal of breaking the siege of Al-Fasher, which has been ongoing since May 2024. The significance of the Rapid Support Forces and their supporters taking control of Al-Fasher is that it has caused the UAE, in recent months, to increase its supportive efforts to ensure its fall. If this happens, everything points to a repeat of the atrocities of Geneina.

At the same time, the Rapid Support Forces have continued to attack the assembly sites of the displaced Massalit, including Zamzam Camp. Between February 9-13, 2025, the Rapid Support Forces launched a ground attack on the camp, deliberately burning its main market after heavy artillery bombardment.

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab on December 13, 2024, noted “a large-scale displacement of an unknown number of civilians from the Zamzam IDP camp due to repeated heavy artillery bombardments over 12 days” by the Rapid Support Forces.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, based on publicly available sources, indicated that the UAE was “the only country” known to have purchased this type of 155mm Chinese-made howitzer – which was believed to have been used in the bombing of Zamzam.

The UN Security Council expert team previously reported that the increasing heavy weapons supplied by the UAE included howitzers, which had been spotted in Al-Fasher. Sudan’s assessment is that the relevant howitzers – numbering 11 – arrived by UAE aircraft that landed at Um Jarrass Airport on October 1, 2024, and were then transported by truck to Darfur before being used by the Rapid Support Forces.

However, night shipments of weapons and ammunition from the UAE to Um Jarrass Airport, among other destinations, continue to arrive. Sudanese intelligence estimates in March 2025 indicate that air shipments to Chadian airports for military aid to the Rapid Support Forces “have continued to date.”

Conclusion: There is no doubt, for present purposes, that there is sufficient evidence that the UAE not only fails to prevent genocide but is also complicit in it. This will undoubtedly be a subject of comprehensive discussion at the stage of the facts, though direct evidence will largely remain in the hands of the UAE itself.

For present purposes, it is important to recall the court’s note in the Corfu Channel case that in such a case, “the other state, the victim of the international law violation,” in this case Sudan, “should be given a greater opportunity to draw realistic conclusions and circumstantial evidence.” Here, Sudan has provided “a series of interconnected facts logically leading to one conclusion.”

Finally, it cannot be ruled out that the UAE was unaware of the existence of this dispute before Sudan made its request.

(A) First, in a letter to the President of the Security Council on April 26, 2024, Sudan stated that “the UAE’s support for the criminal Rapid Support Forces militia, which is waging war against the state and citizens, makes it a partner in all the crimes and atrocities committed by this militia.” Sudan called for accountability for the UAE regarding the crimes, including “crimes amounting to genocide.”

(B) Second, during a Security Council meeting held on June 18, 2024, Sudan stated that “the Security Council… should identify the name of the state sponsoring this plague that is subjecting the people of Sudan to gradual genocide.” Sudan concluded that “the UAE is a state that sponsors systemic, ethnically based terrorism in Sudan”; and that “the Rapid Support Forces… are supported, aided, and incited by the UAE to fight in Sudan and commit crimes and rapes.” At the same meeting, the UAE denied all of this and described it as “false.”

(C) Third, during a Security Council meeting held on September 11, 2024, Sudan stated that “the UAE… is fueling the war and supporting the militias that committed the genocide.”

(D) Fourth, in a press statement on February 12, 2025, Sudan stated that the Rapid Support Forces, “with the support of their regional sponsor, are escalating the genocide campaign against the majority of Darfur’s population. The terrorist militia is conducting a brutal and ongoing attack on the Zamzam IDP camp.” It also mentioned that the Rapid Support Forces targeted the displaced “on an ethnic basis.” The press statement concluded that “the militia’s regional sponsor bears direct responsibility for the ongoing genocide.”