American congressman Brad Sherman proposed demanding Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners. This is reported by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he proposed an amendment to the House Diplomatic Service Act (H.R. 9086), which “calls on Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners.”
The politician reminded about Azerbaijan’s military aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic cleansing of more than 100 thousand Armenians living there for 2 thousand years. He also pointed out the footage spread on the Internet documenting cases of extrajudicial execution of Armenian prisoners.
“Given all of this, it is extremely important that the United States demand from Baku the immediate release of all captured Armenians,” he stated in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.
Sherman also noted that the release of the hostages is directly related to the efforts made by US President Donald Trump to establish peace in the South Caucasus.
“As President Trump continues his efforts to ensure lasting peace in the South Caucasus, the release of Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners would be an important step on that path,” he said.
Republican Brian Mast, chairman of the committee, supported the proposal.
A roll call vote on this amendment is now expected. If accepted, the project will be transferred to the House of Representatives for discussion.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed this decision of the bipartisan commission.
“The illegal detention of Armenian hostages in Azerbaijan is a real crisis of human rights, which requires decisive steps from the Congress. We highly appreciate the commission’s chairman Mast’s support for Sherman’s initiative and the commission’s bipartisan firm position regarding the immediate and unconditional release of the prisoners,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hambaryan.
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