[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 320 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 320
Recognizing the Republic of Artsakh's independence and condemning
Azerbaijan's continued aggression against Armenia and Artsakh.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2023
Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Gottheimer) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the Republic of Artsakh's independence and condemning
Azerbaijan's continued aggression against Armenia and Artsakh.
Whereas the right to self-determination is enshrined in several articles of
international law to which the United States is a party, including
Article I of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
which states, ``All peoples have the right of self-determination. By
virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and
freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.'';
Whereas the United States has historically supported the right to self-
determination for persecuted populations, including but not limited to
the cases of Timor-Leste, Kosovo, and South Sudan;
Whereas Armenians have been historically recognized as the indigenous population
of Artsakh (Soviet name: Nagorno Karabakh), an integral part of the
Armenian homeland and a major center of Armenian cultural life, with
Christian holy sites dating back to the 1st century;
Whereas Soviet Azerbaijan engaged in the systematic persecution and
discrimination of the region's indigenous Armenians, which comprised
over 80 percent of Artsakh's population;
Whereas the Republic of Artsakh declared its independence in 1991, consistent
with their rights under the Declaration on Principles of International
Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States (1970) in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, following
Azerbaijan's deprivation of the fundamental rights of the region's
Armenian population and use of force, including the pogroms of Sumgait,
Baku, and Kirovobad that resulted in hundreds of deaths and the forced
displacement of over 400,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan;
Whereas the Armenians of Artsakh voted with near-unanimous consent to declare
their independence from Azerbaijan by referendum on December 10, 1991;
Whereas Azerbaijan in response launched a full-scale war that saw the widespread
perpetration of war crimes and human rights abuses, including the
bombing and blockade of cities, the targeting of civilian populations,
and the recruitment of foreign terrorists from Chechnya and Afghanistan;
Whereas the First Karabakh War ended in 1994 with a cease-fire brokered by the
Russian Federation that ensured Artsakh's de facto independence from
Azerbaijan and initiated a multilateral conflict resolution process
under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) ``Minsk Group'' cochaired by Russia, the United States,
and France;
Whereas the OSCE Minsk Group process determined to ensure a final resolution to
the conflict based on the Helsinki Final Act (1975) principles of non-
use of force, territorial integrity, and self-determination;
Whereas despite these efforts Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh continued
unabated and culminated in its full-scale assault on the territory in
September 2020 with the support of Turkey that resulted in thousands of
deaths, the capture of territory by force, the displacement of tens of
thousands of civilians, the systematic perpetration of war crimes and
human rights abuses, and the ongoing detention of hundreds of prisoners
of war;
Whereas Azerbaijan continues to demonstrate its inability and unwillingness to
ensure the fundamental rights of the region's Armenian population, seen
in remarks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on January 11, 2023,
regarding ethnic Armenians in Artsakh stating, ``Whoever does not want
to become our citizen, the road is not closed'', just one of his recent
comments that raise concerns about ethnic cleansing and a new genocide
in Artsakh;
Whereas Azerbaijani Armed Forces continue to carry out unprovoked attacks on
Armenian territory, including opening fire on Armenian soldiers carrying
out engineering works in the Tegh Community on April 11, 2023, killing
four Armenian soldiers and wounding six;
Whereas, on March 26, 2023, Azerbaijani troops crossed the line of contact to
launch an operation to cut off a dirt road that was providing some
relief from the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, in violation of the
2020 cease-fire statement;
Whereas, on March 5, 2023, Azerbaijani troops attacked a Nagorno-Karabakh police
car, killing three police officers;
Whereas these are only the most recent escalations by Azerbaijan, as in
September 2022, Azerbaijan launched its latest, unprovoked assault on
sovereign Armenian territory, with intensive shelling and UAV attacks on
the villages of Karmir Shuka and Taghavard in Nagorno Karabakh
(Artsakh), and the Armenian border cities of Vardenis, Jermuk, Goris,
and Tatev reportedly resulting in the deaths of at least 49 soldiers;
Whereas, since December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan has created a humanitarian crisis
by blockading the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-
Karabakh to Armenia, depriving some 120,000 innocent civilians of their
essential rights, including the right to freedom of movement;
Whereas the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh has grown more dire by the day, with
widespread shortages of food, medicine, and other necessities and
rolling blackouts, all with the complicity of the Azerbaijani
Government;
Whereas despite Azerbaijan's flagrant violation of Armenia's sovereignty,
territorial integrity, international law, and the November 2020
tripartite statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia to end
the Nagorno-Karabakh War, the Department of State waived section 907 of
the Freedom Support Act to provide assistance to Azerbaijan, despite the
recent publication of a Government Accountability Office report (22-
104619), which confirmed the Department of State and Department of
Defense have failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to Congress
on the impact of United States assistance on the peace process and the
military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan;
Whereas section 907 of the Freedom Support Act is intended to prevent United
States military assistance to Azerbaijan unless the President certifies
Azerbaijan ``is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and
other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh'';
and
Whereas peace, stability, and democracy in the Caucasus region are in the
political, security, and economic interests of the United States and are
matters of international concern: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the independence of the Republic of Artsakh,
consistent with the right to self-determination enshrined in
various United Nations instruments and the people of Artsakh's
1991 vote and decision to declare their independence from
Azerbaijan;
(2) urges the United States to engage proactively in
supporting international recognition of the status of the
Republic of Artsakh;
(3) condemns the ongoing blockade of the Lachin Corridor
and unprovoked attacks by the Azerbaijani forces on Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh, and calls for Azerbaijan to immediately cease
its blockade and aggressions against Armenia and Artsakh
without conditions;
(4) calls for all United States foreign and military
assistance to Azerbaijan to be immediately ceased pursuant to
the section 907 of the Freedom Support Act and for the
Administration to make clear to the Government of Azerbaijan
that further attacks on Armenia and Artsakh will result in
sanctions and other measures;
(5) stands firmly in support of our democratic partner
Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and against
Azerbaijan's military aggression and blatant violations of
international laws and norms; and
(6) supports the United States and international
humanitarian assistance programs to meet the urgent needs of
victims of Azerbaijani aggression in both Armenia and Artsakh.
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