The request was submitted on 10 May 2026 by DEMAIN, a France-based law firm representing victims of the conflict, according to a press statement issued in Paris on 11 May and shared with Sudans Post.
The law firm said it had petitioned the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, to launch investigations and impose targeted sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
The sanctions request targets two senior Emirati officials, including Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, alongside four Emirati businessmen, two Sudanese businessmen, and four companies allegedly linked to the RSF.
The companies named in the filing include Global Security Services Group, Al-Fakher Advanced Works Co. Ltd, Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services, and Aoun Commercial Brokers.
According to DEMAIN, the accused individuals and entities allegedly maintained financial, logistical, and commercial ties with the RSF, which the law firm says contributed to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed during the conflict.
The Sudan conflict erupted on 15 April 2023 between the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the Sudanese Armed Forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The war has since triggered what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The statement cited multiple international investigations and media reports alleging foreign support for the RSF, including reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Sentry and The New York Times.
DEMAIN alleged that foreign actors, “most notably the United Arab Emirates,” had enabled the conflict through financial assistance, weapons supplies, and logistical support to the RSF. The law firm also accused some Emirati officials of maintaining long-standing relationships with RSF leadership.
The victims are calling for travel bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on financial resources to halt external support to the RSF and its allied militias.
“Anyone who supported, financed or facilitated them must be sanctioned and prosecuted,” said Mujahed Othman Abdelrahim Mohamed, a Sudanese investigative journalist quoted in the statement after interviewing victims living in displacement camps.
A doctor from El Fasher, identified as Mohamed Ismail Abdelrahman Hassan, described the devastating impact of attacks on hospitals and civilians.
“We were receiving between 130 and 180 wounded people a day,” he said, adding that most victims were women and children suffering from shelling, gunshot wounds, torture, rape, and amputations. He blamed the RSF and “their international backers” for supplying heavy weapons used in attacks on civilians.
The statement also included testimonies from displaced civilians who described indiscriminate shelling, arbitrary detention, torture, and the killing of family members during attacks on El Fasher in late 2025.
The UAE government has repeatedly denied accusations that it supports the RSF.
