AAA URGES CONGRESS TO PRESS ON BAKU TO INVESTIGATE FACTS OF DESTROYING ARMENIAN MONUMENTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.07.2007 13:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) 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 Old Julfa (Nakhichevan)
in 2005. In its statement submitted for a House Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee hearing, the AAA condemns Azerbaijan’s unwillingness to
develop civil society based on legal norms. "This regime has fostered
an atmosphere of intolerance for free speech and free press by
regularly resorting to violence and arbitrary judicial practices. 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 stated in its testimony. 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. 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," says the AAA statement
passed to the PanARMENIAN.Net.

Jennifer L. Windsor, executive director of Freedom House stated that
the Azeri regime has been able to effectively utilize its enormous
petrol wealth to further consolidate its control over society:
"Azerbaijan as a hydrocarbon-dependent quasi-dynasty".