US Congress calls to work  for the release of Armenians from  Azerbaijani prisons and to uphold the right to return

ArmInfo.  Reversing the genocide committed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh and the release of Armenian hostages illegally held in Baku were the focus of a hearing of the Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights of the US Congress, chaired by US Representative Chris Smith.  As reported by the  Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the hearing in the US  Congress, titled "Human Rights in Azerbaijan since the UN Climate  Change Conference (COP-29)" brought renewed urgency to US  Congressional action aimed at  returning Armenians to Artsakh,  holding Azerbaijan accountable, releasing Armenian hostages and  ending US complicity in the Aliyev regime's crimes.  Executive  Director Aram Hamparian noted that the hearing offered an unflinching  look at Azerbaijan's genocide of  Artsakh's indigenous Armenians and  its ongoing abuse of Armenian hostages. "Chairman Chris Smith and  each of the witness gave voice to the truth, to justice, and the  moral imperative of U.S.  action. These hearings send a clear  message: the time for words is has passed - the time for meaningful  sanctions, Congressional legislation, and real pressure on Baku is  now," Hamparian said.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Smith laid bare the core issue: "We  need to work for the release of political prisoners and POWs held by  the government of Azerbaijan, to protect Armenian cultural heritage,  and to uphold the right to return one day to live in peace and  freedom in Nagorno-Karabakh." 

Chairman Smith then announced his intention to re-introduce the  Azerbaijan Democracy Act, legislation that would place direct  political and economic consequences on Azerbaijan for its human  rights violations and war crimes. "We need to push very hard for this  new bill. It must be bipartisan - to show that we're all on the same  page, and that we care deeply, especially for the prisoners of war  and the political prisoners," stated Rep. Smith.  He anticipated,  "there will be a lobbying effort by people on K Street to kill it.  That happened before. But this time we're ready. We know exactly what  Aliyev is - a despot. And we'll do everything we can to pass this  bill."

Chairman Smith also called for comprehensive sanctions targeting top  Azerbaijani officials under existing U.S. laws.  "We've got the  Magnitsky sanctions, the Global Magnitsky Act, which we need to be  doing the analysis and then meting out those sanctions to the  appropriate abusers everywhere, including in Azerbaijan," he stated.  "And I think it starts with the top, frankly, with Aliyev." He also  expressed  his disappointment that the US Commission on International  Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had not recommended that Azerbaijan be  designated a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC). Smith also  pledged to escalate US engagement at the highest levels to secure the  release of Armenian prisoners and hold Azerbaijan accountable for its  crimes.

 In turn, former State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan noted that  within three years, Azerbaijan has successfully perpetrated a full  genocide against the Artsakh people. ": through blockade, military  assaults, the unlawful abduction of our leaders, destruction of  cultural heritage and relentless anti-Armenian hatred.  In September  2023, I and 120,000 others were forcibly displaced - every Armenian  ethnically cleansed from Artsakh," he noted. Beglaryan also detailed  how Azerbaijan's genocidal actions are rooted in a systemic policy of  hatred.