The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, co-chaired by Chris Smith and Jim McGovern, held a hearing on human rights violations in Azerbaijan at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 19. The hearing was supported by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The hearing notice states:
“The government of Azerbaijan has a bad record in human rights. According to Freedom House, “power in Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime continues to be in the hands of Ilham Aliyev—who has been president since 2003—and his family”.
Related issues include the condition of POWs and political prisoners, the status of Armenian cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the right of Armenians to return to Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We welcome the chairmanship of Congressmen Chris Smith and Jim McGovern in holding Aliyev accountable, pushing back on Azerbaijan’s aggression, and charting a safe and sustainable path for the return of Artsakh Armenians under global mandate and international protection. Fortunately, members of Congress are stepping up on a bipartisan basis to confront the failures of the past two administrations to arm Azerbaijan, commit genocide, and abandon Artsakh,” ANCA Executive Director Aram Hambaryan said.
The three witnesses announced at the hearing were Gegham Stepanyan, the former human rights defender of the Republic of Artsakh, Garnik Krkonyan, an international lawyer and a member of the Committee for the Defense of the Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh, and Keith Waters, a co-founder and executive director of Crude Accountability.
