[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 7 (Thursday, January 19, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E48]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BLACK JANUARY IN AZERBAIJAN

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 19, 2012

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, as the Co-Chairman of the Congressional 
Azerbaijan Caucus, I rise today to join with the people of Azerbaijan 
to commemorate the tragic events of ``Black January.''
  On January 19, 1990, approximately 26,000 Soviet troops stormed 
Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku in tanks and armored vehicles. That 
night, the Soviet military bulldozed innocent Azeris and opened 
indiscriminate fire on peaceful demonstrators, including women and 
children. According to Azerbaijani sources, as a result of these 
merciless acts 131 people were killed, 611 were injured, 841 were 
arrested, and 5 went missing.
  The Human Rights Watch report ``Black January in Azerbaijan'' states 
that ``among the most heinous violations of human rights during the 
Baku incursion were the numerous attacks on medical personnel, 
ambulances, and even hospitals.'' The report concludes that the 
violence used by the Soviet Army constituted an exercise in collective 
punishment and that the punishment inflicted on Baku by Soviet soldiers 
may have been intended as a warning to nationalists, not only in 
Azerbaijan, but in other Republics of the Soviet Union.
  In their honor, every January 20, thousands gather in Martyr's 
Cemetery in Baku to honor the dead and the nation's commitment to 
independence and freedom. In doing so, it is clear the victims of 
``Black January'' did not perish in vain.
  Far from crushing the spirit of Azeris, the atrocities of Black 
January instead consolidated the rising independence movements in the 
country and united the Azerbaijani nation in its quest for freedom. 
Today, Azerbaijan is a critical and strategic ally of the United States 
and is preparing to celebrate 20 years of diplomatic relations with the 
United States.
  It is my honor to thank the Azerbaijani people for their friendship 
and to offer my thoughts and prayers to the families of those who gave 
their lives for the independence of Azerbaijan. I encourage my 
colleagues to visit the very moving memorial to Black January in Baku 
that honors the memories of those killed in these attacks by the Soviet 
military and to join with me today in standing with Azerbaijanis as 
they commemorate this tragedy.

                          ____________________