[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5369 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5369
To provide for a review of sanctions with respect to Azerbaijan.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 15, 2025
Ms. Titus 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
2025''.
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
3(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 August 2025 documented ``credible
reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; torture or cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest
and detention; transnational repression against individuals in
another country,'' and notes that ``the government [of
Azerbaijan] did not take credible steps or action to identify
and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.''.
(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) Reporting conducted in 2024 by Freedom House found that
the Government of Azerbaijan ``acted upon a comprehensive,
methodically implemented strategy to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of
its ethnic Armenian population between 2020 and 2023'' and
engaged in a ``pattern of arbitrary detention, torture, and
ill-treatment of Armenians who fell into Azerbaijani
custody.''.
(8) 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.
(9) At least 23 prisoners of war and hostages are still
detained illegally by Azerbaijan as of August 2025 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.
(10) 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.
(11) In January 2025, Azerbaijan commenced sham trials of
the aforementioned former officials of Nagorno-Karabakh in
Baku's military court, where detainees have been denied due
process, the right to a fair trial, the right to legal counsel
of their own choosing, and have been charged on political
grounds without evidence and in the absence of independent
observers.
(12) In March 2025, Azerbaijan ordered the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the only entity in
Azerbaijan with the authorization to visit Armenian prisoners
of war and civilian captives, to leave the country.
(13) International humanitarian law requires parties to an
international armed conflict to treat prisoners of war humanely
in all circumstances.
(14) 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.
(15) 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.
(16) 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.
(17) Following the publication of the terms of the
initialed peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in
August 2025, it was confirmed the document omits provisions to
ensure the release of Armenian prisoners of war or civilian
captives, raising concerns as to Azerbaijan's commitment to
ensuring a just, durable, and dignified peace in the region.
(18) Amid fraught peace talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian
prisoners of war, civilians, and political detainees would
represent an important confidence building measure.
(19) In addition to its arbitrary detention of Armenian
prisoners, Azerbaijan also has also unlawfully detained over
300 Azerbaijani journalists, human rights defenders, civic
activists and opposition figures, with Azerbaijani authorities
escalating civil society crackdowns in the months leading up to
the COP29 Climate Summit in November 2024.
(20) Azerbaijan's brutal repression of domestic political
opposition is of grave concern for the human rights of
Azerbaijanis.
(21) The detention and subsequent torture and ill-treatment
of journalists like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter
Farid Mehralizada, critics of the Aliyev government like Dr.
Gubad Ibadoghlu, and human rights advocates like Rufat Safarov,
raises fundamental concerns about due process and the integrity
of the legal proceedings against those who express political
dissent in Azerbaijan.
(22) 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 National Security, Department of
State, 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 the State Security Services.
(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 Defense.
(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.
(45) Ali Hasanov, Head of the Department for Public and
Political Issues.
(46) Mehman Ahmadov, Director of State Security Service
Investigative Isolator and Temporary Detention Facility in
Baku.
(47) Major General Hikmat Hasanov, Commander of the 1st
Army Corps of Azerbaijan.
(48) Kamran Aliyev, Prosecutor General.
(49) Ulviyya Shukuruvo, Baku City Sabail District Court
Judge.
(50) Elnur Ismayilov, Deputy of Baku Investigative
Detention Center.
(51) Major General Mais Barkhudarov, Commander of the 1st
Army Corps of Azerbaijan.
(52) Major General Zaur Sabir Memmedov, Deputy Head of
Azerbaijan's Special Forces.
(53) Colonel Tehran Mensimov, Commander of the Nakhichevan
Army's Special Forces.
(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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