WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Ameri- can Armenian community wel- comed bipartisan House Foreign Af- fairs Committee action advancing an amendment to the House Foreign Service Act (H.R. 9086) that calls on Azerbaijan to im- mediately and unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners. The amendment, led by Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), cleared the committee markup with the support of House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) and is now ex- pected to proceed to a full committee roll call vote. “Azerbaijan’s illegal detention of Armenian hostages for nearly 1,000 days is a human rights crisis that demands strong Congressional action,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We welcome Chairman Mast’s support for the Sherman amendment and the committee’s strong bipartisan stand that these hostages must be freed — immediately and unconditionally.” The amendment, as adopted, declares it is the sense of Congress that Azer- baijan should immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war and political prisoners. Rep. Sherman urged the committee to act, citing documented abuses in Azerbaijani captivity and verified battlefield executions of Armenian POWs — including several captured on video and reviewed by Hu- man Rights Watch. “Given documented executions of Armenian POWs by Azer- baijani forces, including several executions which were horrifically recorded and distributed on social media, as documented by Human Rights Watch, it is vital that the United States clearly advocate for the immediate and unconditional re- lease of all Armenian POWs,” Sherman told the committee. Rep. Sherman also framed the release of hostages as directly aligned with President Trump’s South Caucasus peace efforts. “As President Donald Trump continues his efforts to secure lasting peace in the South Caucasus, securing the release of Armenian POWs and political prisoners would be a significant step toward this achievement,” he said. The amendment originally directed the United States to employ all diplo- matic, economic and legal tools — including full enforcement of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act — to secure the release of Armenian hostages.
