[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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