WASHINGTON, DC \u2013<\/strong> Following the release of the U.S. State Department\u2019s 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Azerbaijan<\/strong><\/a>, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reiterates its calls for the U.S. to take immediate action to address the widely documented human rights violations perpetrated by Azerbaijan through the immediate reversal of the Trump Administration\u2019s waiver of Section 907<\/strong><\/a> of the FREEDOM Support Act, the enforcement of Global Magnitsky Sanctions against Azerbaijan officials responsible for war crimes, and the unconditional release of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Trump Administration\u2019s own human rights report leaves no doubt \u2014 Azerbaijan continues to hold and torture Armenian prisoners, destroy Armenian heritage, and systematically erase Artsakh\u2019s Armenian presence,\u201d stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. \u201cWaiving Section 907 rewards this record. We urge the Administration to reverse this waiver, block arms sales, and sanction the Azerbaijani architects of these atrocities under the Global Magnitsky Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State Department\u2019s report on Azerbaijan highlights \u201ccredible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest and detention; transnational repression against individuals in another country\u201d, noting that the government of Azerbaijan \u201cdid not take credible steps or action to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State Department\u2019s report cites the UN Committee against Torture June 5th report detailing \u201csevere and grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law committed by Azerbaijani military forces against prisoners of war and other protected persons of Armenian ethnic or national origin.\u201d It further documents that on September 27th, 2024, UN human rights experts raised \u201cconcern regarding the alleged enforced disappearance of 23 Armenian soldiers and one civilian following their captivity by Azerbaijani forces in Zangilan in 2020\u201d and that Azerbaijan \u201cdid not respond during the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State Department report highlights a November 11, 2024, Freedom House fact-finding study concluding that Azerbaijan \u201cacted upon a comprehensive, methodically implemented strategy to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population between 2020 and 2023, subjecting the population\u2026 to attacks, intimidation, deprivation of basic rights and adequate living conditions, and forced displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that 133-page report<\/strong><\/a>, Freedom House concluded that \u201cthe Azerbaijani state ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population, using forced displacement as a means\u201d, recommending governments \u201cimpose targeted sanctions on Azerbaijani officials responsible for the ethnic cleansing and related human rights violations\u201d, \u201chalt the sale, supply, or transfer of offensive military equipment, technology, and intelligence to Azerbaijan,\u201d and to \u201ccontinue pursuing international legal avenues to seek accountability measures and remedies\u2026 includ[ing] ongoing efforts at the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State Department report also notes that, according to media reports, \u201conly 15 ethnic Armenian residents remained in Nagorno-Karabakh as of October 24, 2024,\u201d and that \u201cCaucasus Heritage Watch reported on the destruction of cultural heritage sites, including the St. John the Baptist Church and the Ghazanchetsots Cemetery in Shusha.\u201d The report further cites a September 2024 Bellingcat investigation showing \u201csatellite and social media images from Khankendi of numerous high piles of debris from what it alleged were ransacked apartment buildings and civilian homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Released just days after the White House-brokered Azerbaijan-Armenia \u201cpeace\u201d deal \u2013 widely criticized for ignoring these very crimes \u2013 the State Department\u2019s own findings reinforce ANCA\u2019s position that U.S. aid, arms sales, and diplomatic concessions to Azerbaijan without justice and accountability only embolden its aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn agreement that ignores Azerbaijan\u2019s 2023 genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, its destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, the torture and detention of Armenian POWs, and the right of return for displaced Armenians is not the foundation for a durable and lasting peace,\u201d added Hamparian. \u201cIt is, instead, a green light for Baku to commit more aggression, confident that it will face no consequences from Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On August 8, the ANCA released a\u00a0detailed Congressional memo<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0citing the shortcomings of the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal. Armenian Americans can visit\u00a0anca.org\/realpeace<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to urge President Trump and their Members of Congress to oppose U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, press for the release of Armenian prisoners, and support sanctions against Baku\u2019s war criminals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Trump is Rewarding the Same Azerbaijani Crimes that his own State Department Condemns WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Following the release of the U.S. State Department\u2019s 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Azerbaijan, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reiterates its calls for the U.S. to take immediate action to address the widely documented human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1390,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions\/1390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freearmenianhostages.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}