Darfur case dismissed on ‘mere technicality’

Its reason is the UAE, when acceding to the UN Genocide Convention, inserted a reservation to Article IX excluding the jurisdiction of the court.

Sudan filed the proceedings in March, alleging the UAE was providing direct support to the Rapid Support Forces militia in violation of the Genocide Convention in relation to crimes against the Masalit group in West Darfur, Sudan. UAE denies the allegations.

Last week, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights published an independent legal opinion by international jurists arguing that ‘blanket reservations to the entirety of Article IX should be rejected as invalid’. 

Mutasim Ali, the Centre’s legal adviser, said: ‘They refused to recognise their power over a State that is a party to the Genocide Convention over the mere technicality of a reservation.’