House commission hears testimony on rights abuses, political prisoners and alleged ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened a hearing to examine human-rights abuses in Azerbaijan, focusing on intensifying domestic repression since COP29, the detention of political prisoners and prisoners of war, and alleged ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh). Chairman Smith said he is preparing legislation he called the Azerbaijan Democracy Act and that testimony at the hearing would inform that bill.

Why it matters: witnesses told the commission that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's government has used arrests, travel bans, and criminal prosecutions to silence critics at home and abroad, and that the situation has worsened in the run-up to and since COP29 in Baku. Several experts urged Congress and the administration to consider targeted sanctions, conditioning aid, international monitoring, and referrals to international justice mechanisms.

Chairman Smith opened the hearing by saying Azerbaijan is "a dictatorship under the rule of Aliyev who controls and exploits the country as a fiefdom for his extended family," and said Congress should consider specific policy responses, including legislation. He noted the commission would convey witness testimony to senior officials in the administration.

Artuk Beglarian, introduced by the chairman as a former State Minister…