Excerpt from UN account of their "efforts" in Sudan

On 7 October 2004, the Secretary-General [of the United Nations]announced the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to determine whether acts of genocide had occurred in Darfur. In its final report, the Commission concluded that while the Government of Sudan had not pursued a policy of genocide, its forces and allied militia had “conducted indiscriminate attacks, including killing of civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging and forced displacement.” The panel concluded that “international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide.” It urged the Security Council to “act not only against the perpetrators but also on behalf of the victims”.

On 21 April 2005, the Commission on Human Rights (predecessor of the Human Rights Council) appointed a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan. The Special Rapporteur, Sima Samar, has travelled to Sudan regularly and issued oral and written statements to the Commission (and later the Human Rights Council) and to the Third Committee of the General Assembly.

In February and March 2007, the Human Rights Council deployed a special mission to report on the human rights situation in Darfur. The Council subsequently set up a human rights expert group to work with the Sudanese Government and the AU to ensure implementation of all resolutions and recommendations on Darfur in relation to human rights. On 20 June, the mandate of the expert group was extended for another six months. In its seventh report on the human rights situation in the Sudan (18 May), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported on aerial attacks conducted from January to March 2007 against civilians in Darfur. The Secretary-General has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Security Council to the continuing violence in Darfur and has condemned the targeting of civilians, including aerial attacks on villages.

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/background.html