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In the News

November 29, 2018
U.S. congressional lawmakers are pressing Rwanda's government against incarcerating dissident politician Diane Rwigara, who faces up to 22 years in prison after being convicted of inciting insurrection and forgery.

October 14, 2018
E.J. Dionne Jr., columnist for The Washington Post, interviewed Reps. Jim McGovern and Randy Hultgren, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on the Trump Administration's decision to limit the number of refugees admitted for resettlement in the United States in 2019 to 30,000, down from 45,000 for 2018 and the lowest level since the refugee resettlement program was created in 1980. 

July 17, 2018

The tiny and sometimes troubled Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, must allow its electorate to "express themselves peacefully" during an election in the wake of pro-democracy uprisings, heads of a bipartisan congressional human rights commission have warned.


July 6, 2018

Every day, millions of Americans enjoy freedoms that are under attack in countries around the world. As we see more journalists and activists imprisoned and tortured, religious minorities persecuted and political dissidents suppressed every year, now is the moment for the United States to stand up for these human rights and democratic principles when they are threatened abroad.


March 1, 2018

In late January, Representatives Randy Hultgren, Republican of Illinois, and James McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, chairmen of the House human rights commission, urged Vice President Mike Pence to expedite approvals for the Iranians. "These Iranians are members of religious minorities fleeing a regime that has brutally oppressed their communities since 1979," they said in a statement. "This being the case, they should be presumed eligible for admittance to the United States as refugees under the Lautenberg Amendment."


February 22, 2018

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hosted a hearing on February 15 highlighting the Commission's Defending Freedoms Project, which allows members of Congress to take the personal initiative to become advocates for persons unjustly incarcerated by repressive governments around the world.


December 22, 2017

A bipartisan quartet of lawmakers is imploring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to end a blockade on war-ravaged Yemen. The letter was organized by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), who are members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and co-signed by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chairmen Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.).


October 11, 2017

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Randy Hultgren, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Rep. Ted Lieu, a member of the Executive Committee, joined Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Sept. 25, 2017, to screen the moving film "Human Flow" at E Street Cinema, and led a panel discussion afterwards.


October 17, 2016

A recent article by Rep. Joe Pitts, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, highlights the implications of the Mosul operation and its aftermath, and offers recommendations to ensure the protection of civilians. The commentary, published in the on-line edition The Philadelphia Inquirer, is available here.


May 9, 2016

Human rights commission of the United States Congress has urged Bangladesh to stay the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami terming the legal process through which the death penalty was handed down was ‘faulty’.


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Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
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