WASHINGTON — The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) of the United States Congress held a high-stakes hearing on June 21 to address the immediate and critical need to safeguard the lives and rights of the vulnerable Armenian population living in Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh), reported the Armenian Assembly of America.
Co-chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the Commission heard compelling testimony from four key panelists: former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, Director of Peace-Building and Human Rights Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University, David Phillips, and former Ambassador of the United States to Armenia, John M. Evans. Additionally, Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) submitted testimony for the record.
In gripping opening remarks, Smith (R-NJ) demanded adequate safeguards for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. He stated, “As our government is leading discussions with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, we in Congress have a responsibility to ask: Where is all of this headed? What is the Azeri quality of mind? Above all, as these discussions continue, what would constitute adequate safeguards for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh? What is the administration doing to make sure that Karabakh is not starved into submission or ethnically cleansed? The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have a right to survival in their ancestral homeland.”
Drawing attention to the forced displacement of Armenians and the threat of ethnic cleansing, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) stated, “During the 2020 war, some 90,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were forcibly displaced. Today, more than 40,000 are still displaced. Before the 2020 war, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh was about 147,000. Today it is estimated to be down to lower than 120,000. Forced displacement can be a tactic used to achieve ethnic cleansing.”
Former Ambassador Brownback, who had just returned from an inspection tour of the border regions of Armenia where he observed Azeri military installations, expressed concern over the historic Christian populations being driven out, saying, “We have seen historic Christian populations being driven completely out of the Middle East — virtually. There’s a [Christian] population left in Egypt, but it’s been driven out virtually everywhere else. This is another historic Christian population that’s going to get driven out if we don’t take some policy moves, and thankfully, we have some that are available to us, but how many more of these do we have to see? And you can see that’s what’s taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh, that Azerbaijan’s going to squeeze the place – just force the people to leave. You can leave but you can’t return.”
Addressing regional security concerns and highlighting the potential dangers posed by Turkey, Michael Rubin warned, “When it comes to Turkey, the fact of the matter is the F-16s which Erdogan demands are more likely to be used against Iraq, against Northern Syria, against perhaps Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as they were during the 2020 war.”
