ICJ sets April 10 for Sudan genocide case against UAE

       

The International Court of Justice on Friday set April 10 as the date for arguments from Sudan and the United Arab Emirates after Khartoum accused the Gulf State of complicity in genocide.

Sudan has dragged the UAE before the court, arguing its alleged support for the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) makes it "complicit in the genocide on the Masalit", a non-Arab ethnic group that has been a target of brutal violence in the Darfur region.

The UAE, which has repeatedly denied supporting the RSF, has dismissed the case as a "publicity stunt" and said it would try to have it thrown out.

Sudan has called for so-called "provisional measures," urging the ICJ to issue emergency orders to force the UAE to pay reparations, among other requests.

The orders of the ICJ, which rules in disputes between states, are legally binding but it has no direct power to enforce them.

Khartoum urged the court to act quickly "to ensure the urgent and fullest possible protection for the Sudanese civilian people who remain at grave and immediate risk of continuing and further acts of genocide."

"The United Arab Emirates fuels the rebellion and supports the militia that has committed the crime of genocide in West Darfur," according to Sudan's submission to the court.

For nearly two years, the RSF and the regular army in Sudan have fought a war that has killed  tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million. Famine has been declared in parts of the country and is likely to spread.

In June, Sudan's UN ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith, accused the UAE of fomenting conflict in his country, saying the RSF was being "supported with weapons by the Emirates".

The RSF has received crucial support from the UAE, including arms deliveries through neighbouring Chad, say diplomats, analysts and rights groups.

The Emirati envoy to the United Nations, Mohamed Issa Hamad Mohamed Abushahab, rejected the claims as "ludicrous".

The Gulf state promised the United States in December that it would not arm the RSF, after two US lawmakers attempted to block its purchase of $1.2 billion in advanced rockets and long-range missiles.

In January, the US lawmakers said the UAE had broken its promises and was still supplying the Sudanese rebels.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes.