U.S. Government watchdog group adds Azerbaijan to list of world`s   worst religious freedom abusers 

ArmInfo.The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) joined In Defense of Christians (IDC) and  Save Armenia in calling on the State Department to follow U.S.  Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommendations to place Azerbaijan on its Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list, along with North Korea and Pakistan.  

In its annual report issued earlier today, USCIRF downgraded  Azerbaijan from its Special Watch List (SWL) to the CPC designation  and urged the State Department to do the same for "for engaging in  systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom,  as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)."  The  report also called on the U.S. Government to "allocate funding to the  U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Embassy in Baku to  restore, preserve, and protect places of worship and other religious  or cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories." 

During a press conference organized by IDC and Save Armenia, ANCA  Executive Director Aram Hamparian pressed the State Department to  heed USCIRF's recommendation.  

"President Biden's Department of State - like President Trump's  before him - is guilty of complicity in Azerbaijan's genocide of  Artsakh by arming Azerbaijan, emboldening their aggression, and  abandoning the Artsakh's indigenous Armenian Christian population,"  stated Hamparian.  "We thank each of the USCIRF members who voted to  red-list Azerbaijan and call upon our State Department to act on the  facts, on the law, and based upon our American values by designating  Azerbaijan as a Country of Particular Concern."

  Hamparian's remarks at the press conference are available here:   https://youtu.be/rrDJXWy87eE 

Citing Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh's 120,000  Christian Armenian population, IDC Executive Director Richard Ghazal  was adamant: "As a retired member of the United States Armed Forces  and as a grandchild of the Armenian Genocide, I am outraged to know  that Azerbaijan is a beneficiary of U.S. military assistance. No  active perpetrator of genocide should EVER, EVER be enabled by  American money and arms. The U.S. must discontinue military aid to  Azerbaijan. The U.S. State Department must heed USCRIF's  recommendation."

 

Former USCIRF Chair and current President of the International  Religious Freedom Secretariat Nadine Maenza noted, "It is important  that Secretary Blinken follow through with his commitment to support  a strong and independent Armenia, to hold Azerbaijan accountable for  any future violations of this ceasefire, and the continuing  violations of religious freedom against Armenians and their religious  sites in Azerbaijan."

Former U.S. Representative Frank Wolf slammed public relations firms  who whitewash the world's worst human rights abusers, calling on  Congress to limit their lobbying reach.  "My own belief stands that  if a country has been designated as a CPC for three consecutive  years, they should be prohibited from engaging in lobbying  activities. [.] This policy should apply to Azerbaijan and all other  countries designated as a CPC for three or more years," stated Rep.  Wolf. 

The complete press conference is available here:   https://youtu.be/UbtJQBlvUxU 

Later, the Hamparian spoke with EWTN News Nightly's Tracy Sabol  regarding the significance of USCIRF's CPC designation for  Azerbaijan.  "USCIRF has a great reputation, a well-earned  reputation, as a watchdog on religious freedom. They need to keep an  eye on our State Department, which sadly sometimes acts as a lapdog,  insufficiently challenging the terrible abuses against Christians and  others around the world," stated Hamparian, who went on to call for  U.S. sanctions on Azerbaijan and to end military and security aid to  the Aliyev regime.  "We can build on this [USCIRF recommendation]  with a formal [State Department] designation, and then by sanctioning  Azerbaijan and withholding military aid. Even to this day, after all  that Azerbaijan's done against Armenians - the massacres, the  blockades, the ethnic cleansing - they're still eligible for US  military assistance, and that has to end."

  Hamparian's EWTN interview is available here:   https://youtu.be/3yPsNWvR2ys

  From 2013 to 2019, USCIRF put Azerbaijan on its Special Watch List  (SWL).  The U.S. State Department finally took their recommendation  and designated Azerbaijan on their SWL List in December 2023.