Sudanese groups blast UAE's UN pick, say she denies arming Sudan's RSF

Sudanese diaspora voices and international human rights monitors are lining up against Lana Nusseibeh, the Emirati diplomat the United Arab Emirates nominated last week to run the United Nations. The objection is blunt: they say she has spent years flatly denying that her government arms and backs Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and that putting her in charge would bury the very accountability the war's victims are owed.

Nusseibeh, the UAE's representative at the UN until 2024, has repeated the Gulf state's blanket denials of those allegations, according to The Guardian. Rights groups have documented evidence of Emirati support for the RSF across years of fighting against the Sudanese army, including an October 2025 assault on the city of El Fasher that the UN said bore the 'hallmarks of genocide.'

At a virtual briefing hosted Tuesday by the advocacy group Avaaz, the criticism came fast. Hala al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, said Nusseibeh has 'no track record of acting independently of her country's role in Sudan,' adding that a security council endorsement would amount 'essentially [to] a denial of the genocidal acts committed in El Fasher by the RSF.'

Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the briefing that Nusseibeh has been asked about the UAE's role in arming the RSF and 'just blatantly denies it without regard to the facts.' He called her 'a completely unsuitable candidate,' and said the RSF could not have been nearly as successful militarily without Emirati backing. On Wednesday, HRW chief advocacy officer Bruno Stagno Ugarte said her dismissal of UN reports linking the UAE to the RSF had 'seriously undermined justice and accountability for the victims.'

Ibrahim Alduma, who grew up in El Fasher and co-founded the Sudan Action Hub, warned that a Nusseibeh win would cost the UN the trust of people on the ground. 'How could the people – not only in Sudan, but other victims of wars and international criminals – trust that the UN will achieve some kind of justice?' he asked. Husam Mahjoub of Sudan Bukra TV said electing the UAE's senior diplomat would hand UN institutions to 'that government's chief defender' at the worst possible moment for Sudanese civilians. Kate Ferguson of Protection Approaches called it 'autocratic capture of our most significant multilateral institution.'

Nusseibeh pushed back in a statement Tuesday, calling the RSF's crimes 'atrocious' and pledging to back UN fact-finding missions on accountability and transitional justice in Sudan if she lands the job. She said she took a leave of absence from her ministerial post to respect the 'obligations of independence' the role demands, and called the Sudan conflict 'the litmus test' for any incoming secretary general. The race she upended had been gridlocked; a security council poll this month narrowly put former Costa Rican vice-president Rebeca Grynspan in front, though every candidate drew at least two opposing votes from permanent members. Another straw poll could come as early as Friday, with format and timing still being haggled over by diplomats. To win, a candidate needs nine of the 15 council votes and no veto from the US, UK, China, France or Russia.