![United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the Netherlands, Ameirah Al Hefeiti speaks to journalists following the ruling in Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates over alleged complicity in genocide, in the Hague on May 5, 2025. [Lex van Lieshout / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT/ Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2212966709-e1746531059281.jpg?fit=1102%2C732&ssl=1)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday rejected a lawsuit filed by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of involvement in genocide in western Darfur province, Anadolu reported.
The UN’s top court said it “manifestly lacked” the authority to continue the proceedings and threw the case out.
In March, Sudan filed a lawsuit at the Hague-based court accusing the UAE of “complicity in genocide” by providing military and financial support to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan requested provisional measures to compel the UAE to prevent any actions that could amount to genocide against the Masalit ethnic group in Darfur and cease any support or collusion with non-state armed groups.
“The direct logistical and other support that the UAE has provided and continues to provide to the RSF has been and continues to be the primary driving force behind the genocide now taking place, including killing, rape, forced displacement and looting,” Sudan’s acting Justice Minister Muawia Osman said during a court hearing on 10 April.
Reem Ketait, a senior official at the Emirati Foreign Ministry, said in a statement following the decision that it is “a clear and decisive affirmation of the fact that this case was utterly baseless.”
READ: Sudan tells World Court UAE fuels Darfur genocide
In response, Sudan’s Minister of Culture and Information and Government Spokesperson, Khalid Al-Aiser, said the government “will pursue every available legal avenue to hold perpetrators accountable for crimes against the Sudanese people.”
“The Sudanese nation’s case against the UAE will not stop at the ICJ,” he wrote in a post on X.
Al-Aiser argued that the ICJ’s decision was based on procedural grounds under Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, not on the merits of the case. He added that “other international courts are capable of hearing such cases, prosecuting offenders, and holding governments accountable for destabilizing countries and harming civilians.”
Article 9 of the Genocide Convention authorises the ICJ to resolve disputes between states under the treaty.
Since 15 April 2023, the RSF has been battling the army for control of Sudan, resulting in thousands of deaths and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
More than 20,000 people have been killed and 15 million displaced, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US scholars, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.