WASHINGTON — The Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing called Human Rights in Azerbaijan since the COP 29 UN Climate Change Conference on April.
Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the Congress, began by presenting several pieces of evidence of growing oppression against reporters in the lead-up to and following the COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan. “Meydan TV reported in February a total of 357 political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” noted Smith, referring to an opposition Azeri Internet source and adding that this figure represents a significant increase in recent years. One of the detainees had worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the United States. “I hope the executive branch recognizes that the US government owes this man the same vigor and seriousness of effort to secure his release that we show for US citizens in similar circumstances,” added the congressman.
The panel featured four speakers: Artak Beglaryan, the former prime minister and ombudsman of Artsakh, Jared Genser, unjustly detained Rouben Vardanyan’s American lawyer, Miriam Lanskoy, senior director for Russia and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy, and Andrea Parsow, the executive director of Freedom Now.
“I have come before you not only as a human rights defender, but also as a survivor of a people who in 21st century have faced complete eradication of their history and their culture in their own homeland” noted Beglaryan at the start of his statement. He suggested imposing targeted sanctions like travel bans or asset freezes against those Azeri officials who were responsible for the atrocities. “Stop any kind of any military supplies to Azerbaijan and condition any assistance to Baku until measurable human rights improvement, including the release of the Armenian hostages,” he added.
Beglaryan highlighted the right of the people of Artsakh to return to their lands and pointed out that after destruction of the Armenian presence in Artsakh, Aliyev’s regime is threatening the sovereign land of the Republic of Armenia with new atrocities and territorial occupation. He referred to investigations by Freedom House and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which assessed the attacks against Armenians as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Genser, citing other notable international organizations, added, “According to Freedom House’s 2025 report on political freedoms, Azerbaijan received a total score of 7 out of 100, placing it between Afghanistan and Belarus.”
