[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8141 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8141

    To provide for a review of sanctions with respect to Azerbaijan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2024

  Ms. Titus (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
McClintock, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Gottheimer, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Cardenas, 
Mr. Valadao, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Costa, Mr. Auchincloss, 
 Ms. Meng, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Lee of California, 
Mr. Lawler, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Amo, Mr. Menendez, and 
 Mr. Sherman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for a review of sanctions with respect to Azerbaijan.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military 
        assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in the forced 
        displacement of the region's entire Armenian population 
        following a 10-month blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which 
        deprived Armenian civilians access to food, fuel, medicine and 
        other essential goods.
            (2) Azerbaijan's blockade and forced displacement of 
        Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenians followed a major escalation of the 
        conflict during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, during which 
        Azerbaijani military and government officials named in section 
        2(b) have committed war crimes and serious human rights 
        violations, including the extrajudicial killing of Armenian 
        civilians and prisoners of war; the arbitrary detention, forced 
        disappearances, and torture of Armenian civilians and prisoners 
        of war and other captives; and the deliberate targeting of 
        civilian populations.
            (3) Azerbaijan's continued detainment, torture, 
        extrajudicial execution, and other serious human rights 
        violations against prisoners of war and captured civilians 
        calls into serious question their commitment to human rights 
        and ability to negotiate an equitable, lasting peace 
        settlement.
            (4) Reporting conducted in September 2022 by the United 
        Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
        expressed deep concern over ``[a]llegations of severe and grave 
        human rights violations committed during the 2020 hostilities 
        and beyond by Azerbaijani military forces against prisoners of 
        war and other protected persons of Armenian ethnic or national 
        origin--including extrajudicial killings, torture and other 
        ill-treatment and arbitrary detention''.
            (5) The Department of State's Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices released in April 2024 documented ``credible 
        reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killing; torture and cruel, 
        inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by members of the 
        security forces; harsh and sometimes life-threatening prison 
        conditions; arbitrary detention;'' and other concerns regarding 
        the lack of due process in Azerbaijani trials of Armenian 
        civilians and servicemembers.
            (6) Human rights organizations have consistently reported 
        on Azerbaijan's abuse of prisoners of war and other human 
        rights violations, including a report by Human Rights Watch in 
        March 2021 that found Azerbaijani forces had abused ethnic 
        Armenian prisoners of war and subjected them to ``cruel and 
        degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, 
        during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention 
        facilities''.
            (7) In December 2021, an International Court of Justice 
        ruling ordered Azerbaijan to protect from violence and bodily 
        harm Armenians detained during and since the 2020 Nagorno-
        Karabakh War.
            (8) At least 90 prisoners of war and hostages are still 
        detained illegally by Azerbaijan as of November 2023 according 
        to the Armenian Government, with independent observers noting 
        that the true number of detainees is likely much higher given 
        the many individuals still missing, and the limited information 
        available due to Azerbaijan's misrepresentation of their status 
        in an attempt to justify their continued captivity.
            (9) Following Azerbaijan's offensive in 2023, numerous 
        high-ranking Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh were 
        arrested and detained by Azerbaijan, including Ruben Vardanyan, 
        Davit Manukyan, Davit Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkadi 
        Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, and Davit 
        Ishkhanyan.
            (10) International humanitarian law requires parties to an 
        international armed conflict to treat prisoners of war humanely 
        in all circumstances.
            (11) It is a war crime to willfully kill, mistreat, or 
        torture prisoners of war, or to willfully cause great suffering 
        or serious injury to body or health.
            (12) In addition to being bound by customary international 
        law, Azerbaijan is a party to the Geneva Conventions, the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 
        and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which 
        strictly forbid extrajudicial killings.
            (13) Despite its international legal obligations under the 
        Geneva Conventions and repeated calls by the United States 
        Government, Azerbaijan has not released all relevant persons 
        and instead continues to detain new prisoners of war, hostages, 
        and captured civilians, nor have those responsible for serious 
        human rights violations and war crimes faced legal 
        consequences.
            (14) Azerbaijan's brutal repression of domestic political 
        opposition is of grave concern for the human rights of 
        Azerbaijanis.
            (15) The detention and subsequent torture and ill-treatment 
        of opposition leaders, activists, and critics of the Aliyev 
        government like Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, a prominent scholar who 
        taught in the United States and was recently released to house 
        arrest, raises fundamental concerns about due process and the 
        integrity of the legal proceedings against him and others who 
        express political dissent in Azerbaijan.
            (16) On March 6, 2024, Azerbaijani authorities detained six 
        journalists in Baku and accused them of unfounded smuggling 
        charges as part of an ongoing crackdown on independent media in 
        Azerbaijan.
            (17) Azerbaijan is designated as ``Not Free'' by Freedom 
        House due to the absence of political rights, civil liberties, 
        and rule of law.

SEC. 3. REVIEW OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO AZERBAIJAN.

    (a) Determination.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a determination, including a detailed 
justification, of whether any person listed in subsection (b) meets the 
criteria for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to--
            (1) section 1263(b) of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
        Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note); or
            (2) section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign 
        Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.
    (b) Persons Listed.--The persons listed in this subsection, which 
includes officials of Republic of Azerbaijan, are the following:
            (1) Lieutenant General Hikmat Izzat oglu Mirzayev, 
        Commander of the Special Forces.
            (2) Lieutenant Colonel Elgun Aliyev, Chief of the Military 
        Police.
            (3) Colonel Elshan Sanaev, Commander of Azerbaijani 
        Military 218th Commando Brigade.
            (4) Lieutenant General Anvar Afandiyev, Commander of 
        Azerbaijani Ground Forces.
            (5) Major General Jeyhun Hasanov, Penitentiary Service of 
        the Ministry of Justice.
            (6) Ali Naghiyev, Chief of State Security.
            (7) Samir Nuriyev, Chief of Staff to President Aliyev.
            (8) Fuad Alasgarov, Assistant to the President for Law 
        Enforcement and Military Affairs.
            (9) Orhan Samadov, Office of the General Prosecutor.
            (10) Vugar Guliyev, Office of the General Prosecutor.
            (11) Ziya Masurov, Office of the General Prosecutor.
            (12) Parviz Mirhashimov, Office of the General Prosecutor.
            (13) Babakhan Hasanaliyev, Office of the General 
        Prosecutor.
            (14) Hamza Eldar Akbar oglu, Office of the General 
        Prosecutor.
            (15) Alakbarov Valeh Hasan oglu, Office of the General 
        Prosecutor.
            (16) Faiq Qaniyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (17) Mirza Khankishiyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave 
        Crimes.
            (18) Ilham Mahmudov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (19) Eldar Ismayilov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (20) Javid Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (21) Samir Aliyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (22) Azad Madjidov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (23) Zeynal Agayev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (24) Sabuhi Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (25) Afgan Hajiyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (26) Telman Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (27) Ali Mammadov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.
            (28) Vusal Gurbanov, Narimanov District Court Judge.
            (29) Kamranov Hafiz, Narimanov District Court Judge.
            (30) Yusif Yusifov, Chief Investigator of the Investigation 
        Department for Combating Organized Crime, Ministry of Internal 
        Affairs.
            (31) Abbasov Mirzali Abdulali oglu, Baku Court of Appeals.
            (32) Major General Abulfat Rzayev, Main Organized Crime 
        Department, Ministry of Internal Affairs.
            (33) Mammadov Elchin, First Deputy Prosecutor General.
            (34) Lieutenant Fuad Rafael oglu Nabiyev, Azerbaijan 
        Ministry of Defence.
            (35) Elchin Guliyev, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (36) Ilham Mehdiyev, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (37) Vusal Sultanov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (38) Azad Alakbarov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (39) Ismayil Akbarov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (40) Ramin Bagirov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.
            (41) Lieutenant Colonel Elgun Aliyev, Military Police 
        Department of the Ministry of Defence.
            (42) Karim Valiyev, Chief of the General Staff of the 
        Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
            (43) Nemat Avazov, Director of the Investigation 
        Department, Office of the Prosecutor General.
            (44) Tagiyev Azer Heydar oglu, Nasimi District Court Judge.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on 
        Appropriations, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on 
        Appropriations, and the Committee on Financial Services of the 
        House of Representatives.
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