Genocide or crime? Actions speak louder than words in Darfur

Much of the international debate over how to stop the ongoing violent tragedy in Darfur has become needlessly preoccupied with the ‘g-word' – whether or not the Sudanese government's brutal campaign against its own citizens in that region constituted genocide. When the long-awaited UN Commission of Inquiry on Darfur returned its report on 1 February – accusing the government of multiple abuses of international humanitarian law and human rights law but not genocide – that, to Khartoum's delight, was the issue that took centre stage.