Press Releases
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, 17 members of Congress, including the Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and ten other members of the Commission, strongly urged President Obama to meet with representatives of civil society and human rights advocates, including those who may be currently in prison or their families, during his trip to Saudi Arabia.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On February 25th, eight senators and twenty-six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the Co-Chairs and thirteen other members of the Human Rights Commission, wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relay their grave concerns about the increasing intolerance and violence experienced by members of that country's religious minority communities.
Sixty-seven years ago today, on December 10th, 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drafted by representatives from different legal and cultural backgrounds, and from all regions of the world, the Universal Declaration set out a common understanding of the fundamental human rights that were to be universally protected.
As Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and recognizing the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2, we are troubled by the intensified crackdown on press freedoms in Turkey. As Turkey hosts the G20 Summit on November 15-16 where President Obama will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we call upon the government of Turkey to guarantee the rights to freedom of press, access to information, and freedom of expression for all persons in Turkey.