by Sarah Pierson, US Mission to the UNHRC, Geneva, September 18, 2014
US Intervention at UNHRC side event panel Sept. 18 2014
A most troubling aspect of recent atrocities is the concern that they could have been prevented if the international community had acted earlier and more appropriately.
Tens of thousands of lives could have been saved. The future of whole ethnic groups, states, societies, indeed the world, could have been transformed for the better.
Through reflection on this failure to act — Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Syria — we appreciate the vital role that prevention plays in the promotion and protection of human rights…