U.S. launches Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent and Respond to Atrocities

The U.S. government announced Monday the implementation of what it has called the U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Avoid and Respond to Atrocities (USSAPRA).

U.S. President Joe Biden has thus expressed that he is “renewing his commitment” to “prevent future genocides.” “Violence and mass atrocities can occur if we ignore hatred and controls on society and authorities are lost,” Biden warned.

Washington therefore pledges to take “effective and timely action” to “anticipate, prevent and respond to atrocities” in coordination with its allies, international civil society and its partners within each country under the coordination of an Atrocities Prevention Task Force, a body that will report to the Presidency.

With this Strategy, Washington “reaffirms the Administration’s commitment (…) to prevent atrocities as a fundamental national commitment and as a basic moral responsibility of the United States,” according to a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, Adrienne Watson.

“The mass violence against men, women and children in Ukraine is a formal reminder of the unspeakable harm of these grave acts and their traumatic consequences for communities for generations,” Watson stressed.

The approved strategy highlights the “disproportionate impact of violence on women and girls,” including the use of sexual violence, and therefore cites “a number of tools” to “acknowledge the loss and suffering of victims and survivors” and “promote peace, reconciliation and democracy.”