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ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY CALLS CONGRESS' ATTENTION TO DESTRUCTION OF JULFA CEMETERY

Politics

The Armenian Assembly yesterday expressed serious concerns over Azerbaijan's attempts to restrict basic rights and freedoms for minorities and called on Congress to urge Baku to thoroughly investigate the deliberate destruction of Armenian headstones in the medieval cemetery of Julfa in 2005.

In testimony submitted for a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, entitled "Ideals vs. Reality in Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Cases of Azerbaijan, Cuba, and Egypt," the Assembly denounced Azerbaijan's lack of effort to develop a civil society based on the rule of law.

"This regime has fostered an atmosphere of intolerance for free speech and free press by regularly resorting to violence and arbitrary judicial practices," the Assembly stated in its testimony. "It also restricts the most basic rights and freedoms of its citizens, including those of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular members of the Armenian minority, who are routinely harassed and intimidated."

The Assembly also expressed grave concern over Azerbaijan's failure to condemn an Azeri military officer who brutally murdered an Armenian participant at a NATO Partnership for Peace military training exercise in Hungary in 2003. Rather than ensure that justice is served, Azerbaijan's National Democratic Party has awarded the individual the title of "Man of the Year."

With respect to the destruction of the Julfa Cemetery, the Assembly noted that the Azeri military was captured on film destroying the centuries-old Armenian headstones of the Julfa Cemetery in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan. The Assembly likened the action to the 2001 destruction of the statues of the Buddha by the Taliban in Afghanistan and noted that Baku has rejected fact-finding missions to Julfa, and has refused to investigate the matter itself.

Additionally, the Assembly called attention to the troubling reports by the Azeri media that the Armenian cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Baku may be demolished, converted to a mosque, or used for some other purpose. The Assembly urged Congress to undertake measures to preserve the church and ensure the protection of ethnic and minority rights.

Turning to Azerbaijan's military expenditures, the Assembly highlighted that the country is one of the world's most rapidly militarizing regimes, having increased its spending from $141 million to $900 million in the past three years.

"We remain concerned that the rapid military escalation by Azerbaijan not only poses a threat to democratic development and human rights, but also to regional stability and security," the Assembly explained. "We therefore, urge this Subcommittee and Congress to implement policy measures that will bring about a de-escalation of tensions in the region, as well as foster greater respect for human rights."

Jennifer L. Windsor, executive director of Freedom House, testified at yesterday's hearing and stated that: "The [Azeri] regime has been able to effectively utilize its enormous petrol wealth to further consolidate its control over society."

In her prepared testimony Windsor described Azerbaijan as "a hydrocarbon-dependent quasi-dynasty," and noted that "Azerbaijan's sorry record on democracy and human rights...are well documented in the State Department's annual human rights reports."

The hearing, which was presided over by Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), also included testimony from Morton H. Halperin, Ph.D, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Frank Calzón, executive director for The Center for a Free Cuba.