The U.S. as Enforcer of International Human Rights
Key Facts & Historical Markers
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After World War I, the League of Nations was established in 1920 as the first international body aiming to prevent future wars and promote cooperation. While the United States never formally joined, it supported the League’s principles and later played a leading role in shaping its successor, the United Nations (founded 1945).
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In 1948, the UN Genocide Convention was adopted, defining genocide as an international crime.
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The U.S. ratified the Genocide Convention in 1988, committing itself to the obligation to prevent and punish genocide.
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Notable U.S. genocide determinations: Bosnia (1993), Rwanda (1994), Darfur (2004), Yazidis under ISIS (2016), Uyghurs in Xinjiang (2021), Sudan/RSF (2025).
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On 7 January 2025, the U.S. formally declared that Sudan’s RSF had committed genocide in Darfur and imposed sanctions on RSF leaders and affiliated companies.
What is Genocide?
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. These acts include:
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Killing members of the group.
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Causing serious bodily or mental harm.
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Deliberately inflicting conditions of life designed to bring about physical destruction.
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Imposing measures intended to prevent births.
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Forcibly transferring children to another group.
Declaring genocide is not symbolic language. It is a formal legal judgment that activates obligations under international law. The intentional targeting of Darfuri communities by the RSF — through killings, starvation sieges, and systematic violence — met this threshold according to U.S. and UN findings.
The Role of the U.S.
When the U.S. designates atrocities as genocide, it elevates the response from condemnation of “war crimes” or “ethnic cleansing” to a binding legal classification. This step triggers sanctions, travel bans, asset freezes, and diplomatic isolation against perpetrators. In Sudan’s case, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”) and RSF-linked companies were sanctioned in 2025. (state.gov)
Critics — such as Human Rights Watch and scholars writing in Foreign Policy — caution that the U.S. applies the genocide label selectively, sometimes influenced by strategic interest rather than consistent principle. Still, these declarations carry real weight for victims who otherwise feel abandoned.
Perspectives: Triumphs, Limits, and Tensions
The Bible describes governments as “the superior authorities” — standing in their positions because God permits them (Romans 13:1–4). Respecting these authorities brings relative peace and law and order, which benefits all.
At the same time, human governments cannot deliver perfect justice. As Jeremiah observed, “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step” (Jeremiah 10:23). The U.S. has acted as a defender of human rights in certain moments, but its record is uneven.
The following articles will illustrate this point:
