Frank Pallone: “I object this evening to the inaccuracies in the Armenia section of the 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.…”

“I object this evening to the inaccuracies in the Armenia section of the 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Originally, the State Department issued erroneous language about Armenia being an occupier of Azerbaijani territory and Nagorno-Karabakh, the report was substantively revised with more balanced, although still not fully accurate, wording and then revised again to restore the original inaccurate language. I am deeply disturbed by the State Department's mischaracterization of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is unprecedented and counterproductive to our government's goal of actively promoting constructive engagement in the peace negotiations of the region. It also sets a troubling example by allowing a foreign State, in this case Azerbaijan, to shape the assessments of our human rights report. To assert that Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory or that Armenia occupies Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories is simply wrong. This version ignores the reality that the current conflict is about the self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”