Congressional Commission to Shine a Spotlight on Azerbaijani Aggression

ANCA Welcomes Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Scrutiny of U.S. Responsibility for Artsakh’s Security

June 15, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC – Members of Congress will shine a legislative spotlight on Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions against the indigenous Armenian Christians of Artsakh during a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) hearing set for Wednesday, June 21st at 2:15 pm EST, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The Capitol Hill hearing is organized by TLHRC Co-Chairs Chris Smith (R-NJ) and James McGovern (D-MA).

“We welcome Chairman Smith’s leadership in shining a Congressional spotlight on America’s responsibility to stop Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, and want also to thank Ranking Member McGovern and all those on the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission who are working to hold the Aliyev regime responsible for its genocidal actions against the indigenous Christian Armenians of this sacred Armenian land,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “As these legislators know, any deal that forces democratic Artsakh into genocidal Azerbaijan is a death sentence for more than 120,000 at-risk Armenians.”

Titled “Safeguarding the people of Nagorno Karabakh”, the hearing will include testimony by former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Michael Rubin, and Columbia University Director of the Peace-Building and Human Rights Program, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, David Phillips. The hearing will be open to Members of Congress, Congressional staff, the interested public, and the media. The ANCA is encouraging Armenian Americans throughout the DC area to attend the hearing. Streaming video will be available here.

An announcement posted by TLHRC Co-Chairs Smith and McGovern expresses concerns about the escalating tensions resulting from Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin (Berdzor) corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and the latest Azerbaijani military checkpoint installed on the corridor that is widely viewed as inconsistent with the provisions of the 2020 ceasefire agreement.

“This hearing will examine the measures required to adequately safeguard, during this period of blockade and negotiation, a vulnerable ethnic population, and offer recommendations for U.S. policy,” explain hearing hosts.

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