United States President Barack Obama today announced a new new interagency Atrocities Prevention Board that will develop cross-cutting strategies to prevent atrocities and ensure that senior officials throughout U.S. government are warned about emerging threats.
According to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, preventing mass atrocities and serious human rights violations is both a powerful moral imperative and a compelling strategic interest for the United States.
“And for the first time, we will explicitly bar persons identified as organizing or participating in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and certain serious violations of human rights from entering the United States.” -Ms. Clinton
Ms. Clinton stressed that those steps, accompanied by a thorough interagency review of U.S. practices and capabilities, will improve its ability to prevent and respond to future mass atrocities and human rights violations.
“The board will help us put our principles into practice and protect more people in more places.” -Ms. Clinton
