Obama says international community has obligation to step in, stop genocide

Obama says nations must stop genocide

DRESDEN, Germany — President Barack Obama says the international community has an obligation to stop genocide, even when it’s inconvenient.

Obama on Friday was asked how the Holocaust mantra of “never again” might apply to current crises in the Darfur region of Sudan or in Sri Lanka, where the government is accused of shelling hospitals during a quarter-century civil war. Officials deny the allegations.

Obama replied that it is up to other nations to take action to stop genocide. He says his administration is working to end the genocide in Sudan, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled humanitarian workers from the country.

Obama was set to tour Buchenwald, a former Nazi concentration camp where an estimated 56,000 people perished. About 11,000 were Jews — worked to death, shot or hanged by Nazi guards.