VIDEO: Obama outlines proposals to combat global atrocities, rights violations

The World

President Barack Obama on Monday said he was taking a stand against global atrocities.

Speaking at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., after touring the exhibits with Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, Obama announced a host of actions to back up his words. He's establishing an Atrocities Prevention Board to be comprised of high-ranking federal officials and outsiders with their ear to the ground. He also announced new sanctions that target top leaders in Syria and Iran. Additionally, he issued an executive order that allows American officials to impose sanctions on foreign nationals found to have used technology, including cellphone tracking and Internet monitoring, in perpetuating human rights abuses.

In total, Obama said that preventing atrocities is a “core national security interest.” And while he said the United States can't, shouldn't and won't intervene militarily in every instance, he emphasized the importance of making sure that atrocities never happen again.

Obama Unveils Sanctions, Touts Anti-Atrocity Measures
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