Darfur, Sudan : the responsibility to protect, fifth report of session 2004-05, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes

The Committee's report examines the effectiveness of the international community's response to the crisis in Darfur, in terms of providing security for civilians through political pressure, and in meeting humanitarian needs, and to ensure that lessons are learned from the situation for the shared responsibility to protect and to promote sustainable peace and development.

The Committee's report finds that, although the Government of Sudan bears the primary responsibility for the atrocities carried out against its own citizens, the international community also has a responsibility to protect these people.

However, early warnings of the crisis were ignored by the international community and the initial humanitarian response, from donors and the UN was too slow.

Two years after the crisis began, the international community is still failing to protect the people of Darfur, and the UN Security Council, driven by national interests, has been divided, weak and ineffective.

The matter should be referred to the International Criminal Court, with targeted sanctions and an extended arms embargo placed on the Sudanese Government. The atrocities, which the Committee describes as "no less serious and heinous than genocide" have resulted in more than two million people having fled their homes and needing humanitarian assistance; with the numbers of deaths likely to be several times the official estimates.