The UAE is Fueling mass atrocities in Sudan.

It’s time to Act

the UAE government-owned Emirates will be sponsoring the NBA's in-season tournament in November and December.

Here’s why that’s a problem.

What’s Happening in Sudan?

Millions of people in Sudan today are facing famine, mass atrocities, and the largest forced displacement and humanitarian crisis in the world.

Since April 2023, Sudan’s war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) armed group has become a nightmare. 

Both sides are accused of committing potential war crimes, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, weaponizing aid access, and using starvation as a weapon of war.

Yet little has been done to end this brutal war, despite warnings of genocide in Darfur.

So what does that have to do with the UAE?

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is committing mass atrocities and likely genocide in Darfur today, much as their predecessor, the Janjaweed, did twenty years ago. 

The UAE is directly supplying arms, cash, and diplomatic cover to the RSF’s rampage.

…and the NBA?

While investing in likely genocide, the UAE also invests heavily in its international reputation. 

It sponsors many of your favorite sports teams and events and hosts concerts and events from your favorite stars.

The Emirates NBA Cup in season tournament begins November 12 and ends December 17. This month, we are ramping up efforts to apply pressure on the UAE to end its blank-check support for the RSF.

Join our movement and learn ways you can take action this month.

A Growing Movement

“Given the UAE’ s large role in stoking the crisis in Sudan, it is imperative that outside actors compel the Emirati leadership to change course…If it faces sufficient pressure, Abu Dhabi might conclude that its support for the RSF is more trouble than it's worth.”

— Macklemore via Instagram

“Cultural figures and sports figures saying ‘we're not going there’ counts for much, much more than a threat of trade sanctions or financial penalties.  I think, interestingly, the [threat to them] of soft power is much stronger, and has much greater potential, than hard power.”

— Alex de Waal in BBC Interview

  • “Under the guise of saving refugees, the United Arab Emirates is running an elaborate covert operation to back one side in Sudan’s spiraling war — supplying powerful weapons and drones, treating injured fighters and airlifting the most serious cases to one of its military hospitals, according to a dozen current and former officials from the United States, Europe and several African countries.”

    Declan Walsh, Christoph Koettl and Eric Schmitt, New York Times, September 29, 2023

  • “According to information gathered by the Panel from sources in Chad and Darfur, the allegations were credible. Several sources in eastern Chad and Darfur, including among local native and administrative leaders and armed groups operating in those areas, reported to the Panel that, several times per week, weapons and ammunition shipments were unloaded from cargo places arriving at Am Djarass airport, then loaded on trucks.”

    Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan, S/2024/65, January 2024

  • “The outside actor that bears the most responsibility for the starvation and ethnic cleansing, however, is the United Arab Emirates. As the RSF perpetrates genocidal attacks on civilians in Darfur and other regions, Abu Dhabi is delivering arms to the militia. Meanwhile, unscrupulous companies smuggle Sudanese gold into Emirati markets, fueling the conflict.”

    Sudan's Manmade Famine, ForeignAffairs.com

  • “A U.S. ally promised to send aid to Sudan. It sent weapons instead.”

    Nicholas Bariyo and Benoit Faucon, Wall Street Journal, August 2023

  • “Based on the State Department’s careful analysis of the law and available facts, I have determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan. I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.”

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, December 2023

  • “Sudan is witnessing the world’s largest displacement crisis, over 10 million Sudanese have fled their home. Nobody cares, the world is keeping silent”

    Galal Yousif Goly

PRESS & MEDIA

Past Actions

In October 2024, we called on the NBA to cancel their pre-season Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets games in Abu Dhabi on October 4 and 6 in solidarity with the people of Sudan. 

700+ individuals signed on to hold the UAE accountable for their role in mass atrocities in Sudan and the NBA’s complicity in these crimes.

Though the NBA refused to cancel, our movement continues. 

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