Barack Obama Quotes About Human Rights

• No, you can't deny women their basic rights and pretend it's about your 'religious freedom'. If you don't like birth control, don't use it. Religious freedom doesn't mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs.

  Barack Obama

  Religious, Freedom, Women

• We cannot stop every act of senseless violence. We cannot know every evil that lurks in troubled minds. But if we can prevent even one tragedy like this, save even one life, spare other families what these families are going through, surely we've got an obligation to try.

  Barack Obama

  Justice, Evil, Community

  "CNN Newsroom" with Rosa Flores, www.cnn.com. September 22, 2013.

• But the question is, do we care enough? Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it's hard, and even if it's politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Country, Pain

  "CNN Newsroom" with Rosa Flores, www.cnn.com. September 22, 2013.

• Now let's make two things clear: ISIL is not 'Islamic.' No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL's victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria's civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, War, Taken

  "Is It ISIS or ISIL? That Depends On Who You're Asking". Interview with Arun Rath, wvik.org. September 14, 2014.

• Sanctions alone could not stop Iran's nuclear program. But they did help bring Iran to the negotiating table.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Science, Technology

  "CNN Newsroom" with Wolf Blitzer, www.cnn.com. April 2, 2015.

• I think the Prime Minister is the first to acknowledge that Malaysia's still got some work to do. Just like the United States, by the way, has some work to do on these issues. Human Rights Watch probably has a list of things they think we should be doing as a government.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, Issues, Rights

• This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many.

  Barack Obama

  Growth, Development, Benefits

  Address to the People of Berlin, delivered 24 July 2008, Victory Column

• So on this Human Rights Day, let us rededicate ourselves to the advancement of human rights and freedoms for all, and pledge always to live by the ideals we promote to the world.

  Barack Obama

  Rights, Advancement, World

  "Beatings, Protests, Arrests Mark 60th Annual Human Rights Day". www.huffingtonpost.com. January 10, 2009.

• When people are oppressed, and human rights are denied - particularly along sectarian lines or ethnic lines - when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism, it creates an environment that is ripe for terrorists to exploit. When peaceful, democratic change is impossible, it feeds into the terrorist propaganda that violence is the only answer available.

  Barack Obama

  Change, Rights, People

  Barack Obama's remarks at the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism at the State Department in Washington, D.C., obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. February 19, 2015.

• When the United States stands up for human rights, by example at home and by effort abroad, we align ourselves with men and women around the world who struggle for the right to speak their minds, to choose their leaders, and to be treated with dignity and respect. We also strengthen our security and well being, because the abuse of human rights can feed many of the global dangers that we confront - from armed conflict and humanitarian crises, to corruption and the spread of ideologies that promote hatred and violence.

  Barack Obama

  Struggle, Home, Men

  "Beatings, Protests, Arrests Mark 60th Annual Human Rights Day". www.huffingtonpost.com. January 10, 2009.

• Our country was born out of a desire to be free. And every day since, it's been protected by our men and women in uniform - people who believed so deeply in America, they were willing to give their lives for it.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Country, Father

  FaceBook post by Barack Obama from May 24, 2014

• We still have sanctions on Iran for its violations of human rights, for its support of terrorism and for its ballistic missile program. And we will continue to enforce these sanctions vigorously. Iran's recent missile test, for example, was a violation of its international obligations.

  Barack Obama

  Rights, Iran, Support

  "President Obama Gives Statement About U.S.-Iran Deals This Weekend". "Weekend Edition Sunday", www.npr.org. January 17, 2016.

• The United States was founded on the idea that all people are endowed with inalienable rights, and that principle has allowed us to work to perfect our union at home while standing as a beacon of hope to the world. Today, that principle is embodied in agreements Americans helped forge - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and treaties against torture and genocide - and it unites us with people from every country and culture.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Home, Rights

• But having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Government, Long

  "Obama at War". "Frontline", www.pbs.org.

• You wouldn't know that if you talked to Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International or some of the international activist organizations. Certainly you wouldn't know that if you were talking to some of the writers who criticize our drone policy. But I've actually told my staff it's probably good that they stay critical of this policy, even though I think right now we're doing the best that we can in a dangerous world with terrorists who would gladly blow up a school bus full of American kids if they could.

  Barack Obama

  School, Kids, Blow

  Source: www.theatlantic.com

• Our tears are not enough. Our words and our prayers are not enough. If we really want to honor these twelve men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work and go to school and walk our streets free from senseless violence, without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we're gonna have to change. We're gonna have to change.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Prayer, School

• The trade agreement itself does have labor and environmental protections, but we have to stand for human rights and we have to make sure that violence isn't being perpetrated against workers who are just trying to organize for their rights.

  Barack Obama

  Rights, Agreement, Environmental

  "McCain, Obama go head to head in last debate". www.cnn.com. October 15, 2008.

• The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone. At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy. I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know that sanctions without outreach -- condemnation without discussion -- can carry forward only a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door.

  Barack Obama

  Moving, Rights, Doors

  Nobel Prize for Peace Acceptance Speech and Lecture, delivered 10 December 2009, Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

• I do not accept that we cannot find a common sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic second amendment freedoms and the rights of law abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis.

  Barack Obama

  Gun, Rights, Law

  "Washington Navy Yard Massacre — The Aftermath" by Dorian de Wind, www.huffingtonpost.com. September 23, 2013.

• And, as a consequence of the pressure that we've applied over the last couple of weeks, we have Syria -- for the first time -- acknowledging that it has chemical weapons, agreeing to join the convention that prohibits the use of chemical weapons, and the Russians -- their primary sponsors -- saying that they will push Syria to get all of their chemical weapons out. The distance that we've traveled over these couple of weeks is remarkable.

  Barack Obama

  Couple, Distance, Justice

  "Full Transcript: President Obama Speaks Exclusively to George Stephanopoulos on 'This Week'". "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, abcnews.go.com. September 15, 2013.

• Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program. As President and Commander in Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. However, I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Wisdom, Spring

  "Obama admits Israel has good reason for scepticism over Iran nuclear deal" by Dan Roberts, www.theguardian.com. November 25, 2013.

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