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As reported by Reuters, genocide is legally defined by international conventions as the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

Jan Pronk, the UN's special envoy to Sudan, estimates that more than 100,000 people have died in the past year, most through hunger and disease caused by their displacement and poor conditions in the camps.

Annan said on Sunday that "gross violations of human rights" had occurred in Darfur and recommended the Security Council consider sanctions on the oil-exporting country. The motion to impose sanctions on Khartoum last year was blocked by China, which has oil interests in Sudan, and Russia, which supplies arms.

The United States is considering a new UN resolution that would impose an arms embargo and sanctions against those responsible for gross human rights abuses. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said that "sanctions will not help Darfur".

The United Nations has proposed trying Darfur's suspected war criminals at the International Criminal Court, but the U.S. opposes that idea because they do not recognize that tribunal.