Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – The government of the United Arab Emirates described as a "campaign of lies and slander" the accusations made yesterday, April 10, by the Sudanese government at the first hearing before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, alleging that the Emirates is complicit in the genocide committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Massalit population in West Darfur (see Fides, 10/4/2025).
On March 6, 2025, Sudan filed a lawsuit against the United Arab Emirates before the International Court of Justice, accusing it of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by supporting the RSF.
"The genocide is directed against the Massalit ethnic group in the west of our country. The Massalit are a non-Arab African ethnic group. The genocide against the ethnic Massalit is being perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), composed primarily of Arabs from Darfur and supported by the United Arab Emirates," said Muawia Osman Mohamed Khair, the acting Minister of Justice, representing the Sudanese government, in his opening remarks at the hearing.
The accusations of the government led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan center on cargo plane flights from UAE airports to Chad.
According to the Sudanese, they are transporting military equipment for the RSF; according to the UAE, they are carrying humanitarian aid for the Sudanese population (see Fides, 23/10/2024).
To support their accusations, the Sudanese have also circulated images of weapons and ammunition allegedly originating from the arsenals of the United Arab Emirates and owned by the RSF.
Regarding the accusations of genocide against the ethnic Massalit, it should be taken into account that the RSF is part of the so-called Janjaweed militia, a pro-government militia that was involved in the conflict in Darfur in the early 2000s in support of the regular army (Sudan Armed Forces, SAF) and has already been blamed for atrocities against the non-Arab population of the region (see Fides, 8/7/2004).
As the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagalo, these militias initially joined forces with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's SAF in 2021 to carry out the military coup that brought an end to the transitional civilian government (see Fides, 25/12/2021).
Subsequently, Dagalo and al-Burhan quarreled over the division of power, igniting open conflict on April 15, 2023 (see Fides, 17/4/2023). A war in which both sides committed atrocities. The SAF is also accused of war crimes, in particular the indiscriminate bombing of civilians and the arbitrary detention of individuals. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 11/4/2025)
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