UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. commission concluded that the Sudanese government and militias carried out mass killings and probably war crimes in the Darfur region, but stopped short of calling the violence genocide, according to a report released yesterday.

The panel recommended that the International Criminal Court investigate evidence of widespread abuses including torture, rape, killings of civilians and pillaging.

The United Nations has called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, saying the conflict there has claimed 70,000 lives since March — mostly from disease and hunger — and now affects two million people, up from 1.8 million in September.

While the commission was clearly reluctant to pronounce a verdict on the violence, it said many of the worst attacks “may amount to crimes against humanity.”

“Some of these violations are very likely to amount to war crimes, and given the systematic and widespread pattern of many of the violations, they would also amount to crimes against humanity,” the report said.

It also said rebel groups were guilty of acts that amounted to war crimes.

“The conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the government authorities, directly or through the militias under their control, should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in the region,” the report said.

It recommended that the U.N. Security Council immediately refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal.

Stressing the need for quick action, it said “serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law by all parties are continuing.”

The recommendation is certain to create conflict within the Security Council because the United States strongly opposes the court and could use its veto to block a referral.