Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan during a work lunch as part of the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France, on June 16, 2026.
© Ammar Abd Rabbo-Pool/SIPA/2606161433 (Sipa via AP Images)
(Berlin, September 8, 2026) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and other senior officials should publicly call out the United Arab Emirates’ human rights record and its role in regional conflicts when they meet President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Berlin on September 10, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today.
“The German government’s lack of will to publicly address the UAE’s devastating role in Sudan is deeply troubling,” said Philipp Frisch, Germany director at Human Rights Watch. “Germany led the way for robust UN investigations into atrocities in Sudan, and hosted a major conference in Berlin on the issue earlier this year. This makes its failure to address the UAE’s harmful role in Sudan all the more jarring, effectively providing a free pass for future abuses.”
The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, which Germany helped establish in 2023, published a report on September 1, 2026, documenting the UAE’s support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the warring parties in the conflict for control of Sudan since April 2023. The report concluded that the RSF was responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and abuses the UN investigators found to bear “hallmarks of genocide.”
UN investigators concluded that “individuals and entities operating from, registered in, or linked to the United Arab Emirates played a significant role in networks involved in the recruitment, financing, transportation and deployment of foreign military contractors and the provision of military-related support benefiting the Rapid Support Forces.” The UAE has denied thes
