Press Releases

Bipartisan Co-Chairs Urge Trump Administration not to Return Historic Bells to Philippines due to Human Rights Concerns
January 5, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressmen Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have written to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis asking him not to transfer the Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines due to ongoing human rights violations by the government of Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte.
Co-Chairs Urge President Trump to Call on Turkey to Release Istanbul 10 and Taner Kılıç
December 13, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressmen James P. McGovern (D-MA) and Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have released a bipartisan letter sent to President Donald J. Trump urging him to publicly call on Turkey to halt the prosecution of the “Istanbul 10”and Mr. Taner Kılıç, the Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, drop all charges against them, and immediately and unconditionally release those still in detention.
Commission Co-Chairs Urge Secretary Tillerson to Designate Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern”
November 14, 2017
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressmen Randy Hultgren and James P. McGovern, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to designate Pakistan a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) this year under the terms of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). IRFA mandates that such a designation shall be made for countries that have engaged in systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.

Co-Chairs Respond to President Duterte’s Threat to Ban Them from Philippines
November 13, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Randy Hultgren and James P. McGovern, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have released the following statement in response to Philippines’ President Duterte’s warning that he would ban them from the Philippines for a letter urging President Trump to raise human rights violations in his visit to the country.
Co-Chairs Urge President Trump to Share U.S. Concerns over Philippine Extra-Judicial Killings
November 7, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressmen Randy Hultgren and James P. McGovern, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have released a letter sent to President Donald J. Trump urging him to use his upcoming meeting with Philippines’ President Duterte as an opportunity to express the United States’ profound concern over reported extra-judicial killings associated with the Philippine government’s “war on drugs.”
Commission Co-Chairs Speak Out on Burma’s Humanitarian Catastrophe
September 11, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen James P. McGovern and Randy Hultgren, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued a statement condemning both the August 25th attack on the Burmese police and military attributed to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an insurgent group, and the clearly disproportionate response unleashed against the Rohingya people by the Burmese military in response.
TLHRC Co-Chairs: Liu Xiaobo Will Not Be Forgotten
July 14, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressmen Jim McGovern and Randy Hultgren, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued the following statement on the death in Chinese custody of Nobel Peace laureate and Defending Freedoms Project prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo.
Co-Chairs Lead Letter Urging President Trump to Delay Lifting of Sudan Sanctions
July 5, 2017
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressmen James P. McGovern and Randy Hultgren, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, have released a bipartisan letter sent to President Donald J. Trump on June 30 urging him to delay the permanent lifting of sanctions on Sudan. Noting that the Sudan government has one of the worst human rights records in the world, the letter argues that providing Sudan with permanent sanctions relief now will not increase United States leverage, but rather would empower a genocidal regime. By delaying sanctions relief, the U.S.

House Human Rights Leaders Urge President Trump to Prioritize Human Rights in Foreign Policy
July 5, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, human rights leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, including the Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and five members of its Executive Committee, released a letter to President Donald J. Trump encouraging him to prioritize human rights in his foreign policy agenda.
TLHRC Co-Chairs: Liu Xiaobo Should Never Have Been Imprisoned
June 30, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Randy Hultgren and James P. McGovern, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued the following statement on the medical parole of Chinese Nobel Peace laureate and Defending Freedoms Project prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo.

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