Public Statements
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the events that, over a period of eight years from 1915 to 1923, resulted in the deaths of over one and a half million Armenians, and the forced exile of hundreds of thousands more.
Once again Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been arrested for exercising his fundamental right to freedom of expression. Today his home was surrounded by security forces and he was taken away.
On March 27, 2015, Congressman James P. McGovern and Congressman Joseph R. Pitts, Co-Chairmen of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, sent a letter to Secretary Kerry urging his serious engagement on the worsening human rights situation of ethnic Uyghurs in China.
As Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, we are deeply concerned about recent reports alleging that on March 16th the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad attacked the town of Sarmin, Idlib in the northwestern part of the country using chemical weapons, specifically barrel bombs filled with chlorine gas.
As Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutal assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov last Friday, February 27th.
As Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, we are deeply alarmed by reports that two alleged perpetrators of genocide in Sudan, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti and Dr. Ibrahim Ghandur of the ruling National Congress Party, have been invited to the National Prayer Breakfast.
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission commends Rep. Aaron Schock for his work in securing the freedom of Dr. Tun Aung, a prisoner of conscience from Myanmar. Rep. Schock traveled to Myanmar earlier this month to personally petition the government for Dr. Aung’s release and was in Yangon to meet with him when he was freed.
Washington - Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet troops of Auschwitz, the most notorious of the network of camps established and operated by Nazi Germany to carry out the Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews.
Washington, DC -- "I am deeply saddened to learn that on Thursday January 15th a court in Mauritania convicted Biram Dah Abeid, along with two fellow activists, of “membership in an unrecognized organization” and “taking part in an unauthorized assembly” and sentenced each of the men to two years in prison. At the time of their arrest, Mr.