{"id":22540,"date":"2024-05-02T07:24:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=22540"},"modified":"2024-05-02T07:24:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:24:56","slug":"u-s-government-watchdog-group-adds-azerbaijan-to-list-of-worlds-worst-religious-freedom-abusers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=22540","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Government Watchdog Group Adds Azerbaijan to List of World\u2019s Worst Religious Freedom Abusers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANCA Demands Azerbaijan Sanctions at Press Conference outside the State Department<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its annual report issued earlier today<\/a><\/strong>, USCIRF downgraded Azerbaijan from its Special Watch List (SWL) to the CPC designation and urged the State Department to do the same for \u201cfor engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).\u201d  The report also called on the U.S. Government to \u201callocate 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a press conference organized by IDC and Save Armenia, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian pressed the State Department to heed USCIRF\u2019s recommendation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s Department of State \u2013 like President Trump\u2019s before him \u2013 is guilty of complicity in Azerbaijan\u2019s genocide of Artsakh by arming Azerbaijan, emboldening their aggression, and abandoning the Artsakh\u2019s indigenous Armenian Christian population,\u201d stated Hamparian.  \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamparian\u2019s remarks at the press conference are available here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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