Earlier today, the UN Security Council passed sanctions on four Sudanese men accused of war crimes in connection with the genocide in Darfur, freezing their assets and instructing nations to block their entry.

This is the first move of any impact the UN has made in response to Darfur, and it is long past due and woefully underwhelming. At the very least, the UN should provide support for the undermanned and under-resourced African Union which is attempting to intercede in the conflict. Ideally, the UN should commit a peacekeeping force to the region (despite the protestations of the Sudanese government), and not tie their own hands behind their back, as was done in Rwanda twelve years ago.

If the international community is serious about preventing agreggious human rights violations, the Security Council must take action to stamp out the murder of thousands of innocent people. This concern ought to take priority over fighting terrorism, which is, simply put, less impactful globally, in terms of loss of life, than the genocide in Sudan or any other state-sponsored attack on civilians occuring in the world today.

In taking a strong stance on the protection of human rights, and in a larger role, working to eliminate extreme poverty from the globe, the international apparatus of the UN and it's partner organizations will also indirectly address terrorism by minimizing the socio-economic struggles which lead many to sympathize with terrorists, and completely delegitimize terrorism as an instrument of social change.