Key facts
- Sudanese victims have asked the ICC to investigate senior Emirati officials and business figures for alleged support of RSF atrocities in Darfur.
- The submission names Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE vice president, as allegedly having close ties to the RSF and contributing to its financing.
- Evidence cited includes reports of weapons and materiel reaching the RSF via an airbridge through Chad, with the UAE named as a suspected supplier.
- The filing uses Article 15 of the Rome Statute, allowing individuals to submit information to the prosecutor.
- The ICC already has jurisdiction over Darfur through a 2005 UN Security Council referral.
Sudanese survivors have formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate senior Emirati officials and business figures for their alleged role in supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their atrocities in Darfur. The submission, filed with the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor, specifically names Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a vice president of the United Arab Emirates, alleging close ties to the RSF and contributions to its financing and logistical support.
The victims' legal team is asking prosecutors to examine the responsibility of intermediaries under specific provisions of the Rome Statute, which cover aiding, abetting, or knowingly contributing to crimes committed by a group with a common purpose. This filing comes despite repeated denials from the UAE regarding the supply of weapons or other support to the RSF.
However, multiple investigations since mid-2023 have concluded that weapons and materiel reached the RSF via an airbridge through Chad, with the UAE frequently identified as a suspected supplier. Reports from January 2024 indicated the UAE was supplying the RSF through a complex network across Libya, Chad, Uganda, and parts of Somalia. Further evidence cited in the ICC communication includes reports of RSF support from an Ethiopian army base and similar vehicles documented at a Somaliland port where the UAE maintains a military presence. A New York Times investigation also found the UAE had funneled weapons to the RSF under the guise of humanitarian aid, and Human Rights Watch reported that Colombian mercenaries hired through a UAE-based company had transited Emirati military bases before deploying to Sudan.
The communication was submitted as an Article 15 communication, a mechanism allowing individuals or groups to provide information to the prosecutor to prompt an investigation. The ICC already has jurisdiction over Darfur through a 2005 UN Security Council referral. Legal scholars suggest this jurisdiction could extend to Emirati nationals accused of aiding RSF crimes, though gathering evidence and securing cooperation from a non-ratifying state presents significant obstacles.
Elise Le Gall, the ICC counsel representing seven victims, emphasized that international crimes require support networks and called for scrutiny of economic and public actors who may have enabled the RSF. The filing details allegations of murder, torture, rape, forced displacement, and attacks on hospitals, with RSF fighters reportedly pursuing fleeing civilians. A doctor from el-Fasher stated that heavy weapons supplied to the RSF devastated infrastructure and killed civilians indiscriminately. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan concluded that the RSF's conduct in el-Fasher bore hallmarks of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, with one member stating the killings left "only one reasonable inference" of genocidal intent. The mission had shared confidential evidence with the ICC, though the court's position is described as weakened.