The UN’s top court dismisses Sudan’s genocide case alleging the Emiratis funded RSF rebels
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court on Monday dismissed a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates of breaching the genocide convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the deadly Sudanese civil war.
Judges found that the International Court of Justice lacked the authority to continue the proceedings. While both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention, the United Arab Emirates has a carveout to the part of the treaty that gives The Hague-based court jurisdiction.
“The violent conflict has a devastating effect, resulting in untold loss of life and suffering, in particular in West Darfur. The scope of the case before the court is, however, necessarily circumscribed by the basis of jurisdiction invoked in the application,” Yuji Iwasawa, the court’s president said, reading out the decision.
Both Sudan and the UAE are signatories to the 1948 genocide convention. The UAE, however, has a caveat to part of the treaty which legal experts said would make it unlikely that the case would proceed.
The UAE applauded the decision. “The court’s finding that it is without jurisdiction affirms that this case should have never been brought forward,” Reem Ketait, a senior official at the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters after the hearing ended.
Around a dozen pro-Sudanese protestors gathered outside the court, shouting as Ketait spoke.
In March, Sudan asked the International Court of Justice for several orders, known as provisional measures, including telling the UAE to do all it could to prevent the killings and other crimes targeting the Masalit people. In a hearing last month the UAE argued the court had no jurisdiction.
Sudan descended into a deadly conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and rival paramilitary forces broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions.
Both the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan’s military have been accused of abuses.
The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula which is also a U.S. ally, has been repeatedly accused of arming the RSF, something it has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary.