I had the tragic opportunity to see the plight of the people of Darfur. victims of the systematic annihilation attempt supported by the Government of Sudan. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a systematic campaign of displacement. starvation. rape. mass murder. and terror as we are witnessing in Darfur for the last 3 years. At least 400.000 people have been killed in Darfur. more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displacedpersons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad. and more than 3.5 million men. women. and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Unless the world stirs from its slumber and takes concerted and decisive action to relieve this suffering. the ongoing genocide in Darfur will stand as one of the blackest marks on humankind for centuries to come. In 1948. the United Nations General Assembly adopted the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." As its title suggests. the treaty imposes two core obligations on participating states: first. state parties undertake to prevent genocide. and second. they commit to punish genocide as well as several related acts. such as attempting to commit genocide.