U.S. Congressman: democracies can’t flourish without respecting minority rights

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Congressman Gary Peters of Michigan took the House floor to remember the Armenian victims of the Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku pogroms who were killed in Azerbaijan in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“As the United States stood as a beacon for freedom around the world, the Soviet Union suffered from ethnic strife and internal unrest. Communist ideology and a command economy could not hold together the Soviet republics and their diverse ethnic groups. The Soviet Union - despite its rhetoric - failed to protect and ensure the rights of its ethnic minorities, especially the ethnic Armenians who were targeted in pogroms in Azerbaijan,” the Congressman said.

“In February 1988 hundreds of Armenians were singled out, driven from their homes, and murdered by Azerbaijani rioters. Despite Sumgait's proximity to security forces in the capital city, the riots and destruction continued for three days unabated. Credible sources report that hundreds of Armenians were killed or wounded; Soviet officials at the time acknowledged 30 deaths and 200 injured.”

“This tragedy did not go unrecognized at the time. Several U.S. Senators rose to speak out against this violence. They sent letters to the government of the Soviet Union. The Senate unanimously passed an amendment urging the Soviet government to respect the aspirations of the Armenian people and urging it to discontinue its serious violations of human rights,” Rep Peters said.

“In Kirovabad later that same year Armenians were once again targeted. My friend and colleague from Michigan, Representative Sander Levin, joined 11 other members of the House and Senate to write to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in advance of his historic trip to the United States urging him to protect the Armenians living in Azerbaijan.”

“Unfortunately, in January 1990 in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, Armenians were once again targeted in a weeklong pogrom. Civil society called upon the Azerbaijan government to respect the rights of, and prevent crimes against, its Armenian minority population.Today, I rise to remember the victims and honor their memories. America has always stood for democratic freedom and human rights - whether then during the Cold War - or today during the historic transition in the Middle East. Democracies cannot flourish without respecting the rights of the minority. Twenty-four years later it is important that we not forget the victims of Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. I call upon the countries in the region to respect the human rights of all residents - whether majority or minority - and to ensure that these events never happen again,” he concluded.