[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 861 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 861

    Calling on Azerbaijan to immediately comply with international 
 commitments regarding the release and treatment of prisoners of war, 
                 hostages, and other detained persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 9, 2023

 Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Bilirakis, and Mr. Valadao) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Calling on Azerbaijan to immediately comply with international 
 commitments regarding the release and treatment of prisoners of war, 
                 hostages, and other detained persons.

Whereas, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military assault on 
        Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), resulting in thousands of deaths, the 
        displacement of tens of thousands of ethnic Armenian residents, and the 
        detention of an estimated 200 Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), 
        hostages, and other detained persons by Azerbaijan;
Whereas, on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia signed a 
        tripartite cease-fire statement, in which all parties agreed that the 
        ``exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and 
        corpses of deceased persons shall be carried out'';
Whereas the Third Geneva Convention, of which Azerbaijan is a signatory, and 
        customary international law require the release of prisoners of war and 
        captured civilians upon the cessation of hostilities;
Whereas, despite Azerbaijan's international legal obligations, more than three 
        years after signing the November 2020 statement, it has not released all 
        relevant persons and instead continues to detain new prisoners of war 
        (POWs), hostages, and captured civilians;
Whereas, in September 2022, Azerbaijan launched another unprovoked assault on 
        sovereign Armenian territory, resulting in the deaths of at least 222 
        soldiers according to the Armenian Government, as well as additional 
        POWs taken hostage;
Whereas, in one example, on May 27, 2023, an Azerbaijani armed group crossed 
        into sovereign Armenian territory and abducted two Armenian soldiers 
        delivering food in Syunik Province, who are now imprisoned by 
        Azerbaijani authorities and face unsubstantiated terrorism charges;
Whereas, for nearly 10 months starting in December 2022, in further Azerbaijani 
        and Russian violation of the November 2020 tripartite ceasefire 
        statement, international law, and multiple International Court of 
        Justice orders, Azerbaijan illegally blockaded Artsakh and restricted 
        the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin 
        Corridor, the only road linking Artsakh and Armenia, including 
        kidnapping or detaining ethnic Armenian civilians on arbitrary, 
        unfounded charges;
Whereas, in one of several cases, 68-year-old Vagif Khachaturyan was being 
        transported on July 29, 2023, under International Committee of the Red 
        Cross protection for emergency medical treatment in Armenia when 
        Azerbaijani authorities detained him at the illegally installed 
        checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor on alleged charges related to the 
        first Nagorno Karabakh War in the 1990s, which the Artsakh Human Rights 
        Ombudsman stated was ``a false and far-fetched pretext for his 
        abduction'', and on November 7 was convicted and sentenced to 15 years 
        in prison after a trial in which he was denied internationally 
        recognized guarantees including adequate legal representation in 
        accordance to several draconian Azerbaijani laws;
Whereas after systematically, and in at least one case fatally, starving the 
        120,000 ethnic Armenians of Artsakh with the months-long blockade, on 
        September 19, 2023, Azerbaijani forces launched an unprovoked, large-
        scale military attack on Artsakh that killed at least 200 and wounded 
        400, and forced nearly the entire population of ethnic Armenians to flee 
        for their lives, completing Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Artsakh;
Whereas, in the days after the September 19, 2023, offensive began and the 
        people of Artsakh attempted to flee to safety, Azerbaijan prevented 
        several former Artsakh civilian and military officials from leaving and 
        detained them on spurious charges related to terrorism, participation in 
        illegal armed groups, and illegal border crossing, including former 
        Artsakh presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan (1997 to 2007), Bako Sahakyan (2007 
        to 2020), and Arayik Harutyunyan (2020 to 2023), former Artsakh Foreign 
        Minister David Babayan, speaker of Artsakh's legislature Davit 
        Ishkhanyan, former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, and former 
        Artsakh military commanders Levon Mnatsakanyan and David Manukyan;
Whereas under Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention, Armenian servicemembers, 
        Artsakh servicemembers, and many others detained by Azerbaijan meet the 
        criteria to be considered POWs, which include being ``members of the 
        Armed Forces of a Party to the conflict as well as militias or volunteer 
        corps forming part of such Armed Forces'', belonging to ``regular Armed 
        Forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not 
        recognized by the Detaining Power'', and ``persons who accompany the 
        Armed Forces without actually being members thereof'', and charging such 
        detainees as ``terrorists'' would constitute violations of international 
        law by Azerbaijan;
Whereas at least 55 prisoners of war and hostages were still detained illegally 
        by Azerbaijan as of November 2023 according to the Armenian Government, 
        though the true number is unknown and likely much higher given the many 
        individuals that are still missing, the limited reliable information 
        about the condition or treatment of prisoners of war and captured 
        civilians in Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijan's misrepresentations of 
        their status in an attempt to justify their continued captivity;
Whereas there are serious concerns that due process rights of Armenian POWs, 
        captured civilians, and political prisoners will be violated, as the 
        Department of State's Human Rights Report released on March 20, 2023, 
        documents that Azerbaijan's judiciary is corrupt, lacks independence, 
        and routinely fails to provide due process, noting ``many verdicts were 
        legally unsupportable and largely unrelated to the evidence presented 
        during a trial'', and that in politically motivated cases, such as those 
        involving ethnic Armenians or the conflict, ``criminal defendants were 
        often denied the right to a presumption of innocence; a fair, timely, 
        and public trial; to communicate with an attorney of their choice; to 
        have adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense; to confront 
        witness and present one's own witnesses and evidence; and not be 
        compelled to testify or confess guilt'', in violation of the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law;
Whereas Azerbaijan is bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is a 
        party, as well as the Third Geneva Convention, to treat those in custody 
        humanely in all circumstances;
Whereas Human Rights Watch reported in March 2021 that 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'', including electrical shocks, prolonged and repeated 
        beatings, and prodding with sharp metal rods;
Whereas international human rights organizations based in Armenia released a 
        fact-finding report in August 2022 titled ``Human Rights Violations 
        during the 44-Day War in Artsakh'', documenting 19 cases of illegal, 
        extrajudicial execution of Armenian POWs and others detained by 
        Azerbaijani Armed Forces;
Whereas a December 2021 International Court of Justice ruling ordered Azerbaijan 
        to protect from violence and bodily harm Armenians detained during or 
        since the 2020 war and provide for their security and equality before 
        the law;
Whereas a September 2022 United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
        Discrimination report highlighted deep concern over ``Allegations 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'';
Whereas a video authenticated by Human Rights Watch showed the extrajudicial 
        execution of at least seven Armenian POWs, apparently by Azerbaijani 
        forces in September 2022, ``a war crime for which there needs to be 
        accountability'';
Whereas there is significant concern that female detainees in particular could 
        be subject to sexual assaults and other mistreatment, with video footage 
        from September 2022 showing one horrific example of a female Armenian 
        soldier who was raped, dismembered, stripped, and mutilated by 
        Azerbaijani troops;
Whereas the Department of State's Human Rights Reports released in March 2023 
        documented ``credible reports of unlawful killings involving summary 
        executions of Armenian soldiers in Azerbaijani custody'' and concerns 
        regarding lack of due process in Azerbaijani trials of Armenian 
        civilians and servicemen;
Whereas Armenia has fulfilled its obligations under the November 9 statement and 
        international law by returning Azerbaijani prisoners of war;
Whereas 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 negotiating an equitable, lasting peace settlement;
Whereas the United States, along with France and Russia, has been a co-chair of 
        the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group 
        which was created to seek a durable and peaceful solution to the 
        conflict; and
Whereas in the context of recent peace talks involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, the 
        United States, the European Union, and Russia, there have been calls for 
        the release of prisoners of war as soon as possible, and a decision by 
        Azerbaijan to release all remaining prisoners of war in its custody 
        could represent an important confidence-building measure: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls upon Azerbaijan to immediately return all 
        Armenian prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained 
        persons, provide information on the whereabouts of servicemen 
        and civilians who were last seen in Azerbaijani custody but 
        whose status is unknown, and allow independent monitoring and 
        public reporting on the current health and wellbeing of those 
        detained, and when applicable, details on their cause of death 
        and the precise location of their remains;
            (2) calls on the President to impose sanctions under the 
        Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on Azerbaijani 
        Government officials responsible for the illegal detention, 
        torture, and extrajudicial killing of Armenian prisoners of 
        war, civilian detainees, hostages, political prisoners, and 
        other detained persons, and to urge credible investigations and 
        prosecutions of the perpetrators in these cases;
            (3) calls on the President to immediately suspend any new, 
        current, or pending military or security assistance from the 
        United States to Azerbaijan, and to fully enforce section 907 
        of the FREEDOM Support Act, in light of Azerbaijan's violation 
        of internationally recognized human rights, including under the 
        Third Geneva Convention;
            (4) urges the Secretary of State to engage at all levels 
        with Azerbaijani authorities, including through bilateral talks 
        and cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-
        operation in Europe Minsk Group or other partners, to make 
        clear the importance of adhering to their obligations under 
        international law and commitments made under the November 9 
        statement, to immediately release and treat humanely all 
        prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained persons; and
            (5) urges the Secretary of State to regularly provide 
        substantive updates to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
        House of Representatives and Committee on Foreign Relations of 
        the Senate regarding the progress and outcomes of engagement 
        with Azerbaijan on the status of prisoners of war, hostages, 
        and other detained persons.
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