A group of veteran diplomats and activists known as the Elders have wrapped up a visit to Sudan and Darfur. The group, including former President Jimmy Carter, the human rights campaigner Graça Machel and the former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, harshly criticized the Sudanese government for the treatment of Darfurian refugees. Graça Machel described the conditions inside the refugee camps.

Graça Machel: “Every single person we spoke to, the first thing they told us: They need security. They need security. They gave us examples of what happens to them even graphically to show how women are being raped, are beaten and are brutalized. I think because they thought we may not get a clear translation, they went at length of using gestures to show us how brutal it was.”

Former President Jimmy Carter assailed Sudan for what he called “a crime against humanity.” But he warned against labeling the conflict in Darfur “a genocide.”

Jimmy Carter: “This is not genocide, and to call it genocide falsely just to exaggerate an horrible situation, I don’t think it helps. … I’m not derogating or minimizing the problem at all, but, you know, genocide is reserved as a term for a special case that’s horrendous.”