The Government will "do all it can" to bring human rights violations in Darfur to an end, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told Amnesty International during a meeting in London today.
Mr Ahern, who visited the region in July, said after a meeting with Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan that Ireland is committed to bringing peace and stability to Darfur.
More than 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes to live in camps in Sudan and across the border in Chad since fighting broke out in 2003.
The conflict has pitted mostly non-Arab rebels against the Arab-dominated government and Janjaweed militia. All sides have been accused of grave human rights violations.
Amnesty has called for an immediate end to sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur. Sudan has so far blocked attempts by the international community to send a UN peacekeeping force into the region.
"Ireland's leadership to bring about an end to human rights abuses in Darfur is an example to the international community not to cease their diplomatic efforts," Ms. Khan said.
The Sudanese government in Khartoum has rejected the deployment of the UN force, saying it is an attempt at recolonisation by Western powers and says AU forces alone should have the job of patrolling Darfur. However, the 7,000 AU forces in Darfur have been unable to halt the violence.
Mr Ahern reiterated Ireland's position today, saying it was "fully supportive" of the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the conflict.
The ICC's chief prosecutor said in June that significant evidence of thousands of killings of civilians, including "a significant number of large-scale massacres," and hundreds of rapes had been gathered by his office - and that a series of charges of atrocities against civilians in the region would be forthcoming.
The role of the newly inaugurated UN Human Rights Council was also discussed at today's meeting. The body was established last year to replace the Commission on Human Rights as the primary international forum for the promotion and protection of human rights.
Mr Ahern said "Ireland has actively supported a full and active role being given to the NGOs at the Human Rights Council and will continue to do so."
Ms Khan, who has been secretary general of Amnesty International since 2001, is the first woman, the first Muslim and the first Asian to hold the position. She previously spent 20 years in several roles with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
During his visit to London, the Minister is also due to open the new Luton Irish Centre, which has been part-funded by the Government.