ANCA Welcomes New Measure Calling for Sanctions on Azerbaijan, Release of Armenian Hostages, Affirmation of Artsakh Armenians’ Right to Return
WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced a comprehensive bipartisan Senate resolution today condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), calling for targeted sanctions against President Aliyev’s genocidal regime, demanding the immediate release of illegally held Armenian prisoners, seeking a prohibition on U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, and affirming the right of return of Artsakh’s population with strong security protections, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We welcome today’s introduction of this Senate Resolution by Senators Peters and Cassidy as yet another marker of growing bipartisan Congressional support for Artsakh’s rights,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “By strongly condemning Azerbaijan’s brutal actions and calling for decisive international measures, this resolution reaffirms our American commitment to Artsakh’s rights – putting in place a robust framework for accountability and justice.”
Resolution co-author Dr. Cassidy explained, “Azerbaijan is holding Europe hostage because of their energy, but Louisiana has enough energy to meet Europe’s needs. The world cannot enable a dictator.”
Specifically, the Peters-Cassidy resolution establishes:
— Azerbaijan’s Artsakh Blockade and Attacks are Ethnic Cleansing: Condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the atrocities perpetrated by the Government of Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and recognizes both the blockade and subsequent Azerbaijani offensive as ethnic cleansing
— Targeted Sanctions: Calls for the imposition of sanctions against Azerbaijani officials complicit in human rights abuses against the Artsakh Armenian population.
— Security Assurances for Artsakh Returnees: Advocates for “strong protections” to ensure the safety and security of Armenians returning to their ancestral lands, deterring further aggression.
— Robust Humanitarian Assistance: Stipulates “robust” humanitarian assistance to respond to the refugee crisis in Armenia caused by Azerbaijan’s forced depopulation of over 100,000 Artsakh Armenians and urges the Administration to coordinate international aid efforts.
— Enforcement of Section 907: Prohibit the provision of United States military aid to Azerbaijan pursuant to section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act (Public Law 102–511; 22 U.S.C. 5812 note)
— Armenia Security Assistance: Calls for strengthening the United States-Armenia security partnership as Armenia bolsters its ties to Western allies
— Diplomatic Initiatives for Lasting Peace: Urges active U.S. diplomacy in the South Caucasus to facilitate the “release of all Armenians unjustly imprisoned by the Government of Azerbaijan, establishes a right of return and security guarantees for the displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and preserves the Armenian cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
The measure calls specific attention to the “dozens of Armenian prisoners of war, civilian captives, and members of the political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh are now unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaijan on politically motivated charges or no charges at all.” It cites that the Artsakh leaders imprisoned by Azerbaijan, including Davit Manukyan, Davit Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, and Ruben Vardanyan, “should be afforded due process in accordance with the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a party.” It notes that the “Government of Azerbaijan has a well-documented record of subjecting Armenian prisoners to torture, humiliation, and other violations of fundamental rights afforded by the Geneva Conventions.”
The resolution also highlights that international legal experts, including former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo and former United Nations genocide expert Juan Mendez, have determined that Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh violated the United Nations Genocide Convention.
The resolution builds on a similar bi-partisan resolution in the U.S. House (H.R.1327), introduced by Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), which has over 25 cosponsors.
The full text of the Peters-Cassidy resolution is provided below and in pdf form here: https://anca.org/assets/pdf/121724_PetersCassidy_Artsakh_SenateBill_Text.pdf
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TEXT OF PETERS / CASSIDY SENATE RESOLUTION CONDEMNING AZERBAIJAN’S ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ARTSAKH
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of Azerbaijan for perpetrating an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Whereas Nagorno-Karabakh is part of the traditional homeland of the Armenian people and has been a center of Armenian life and culture for millennia;
Whereas the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh have continually sought to exercise their right of self-determination and established a government separate from Azerbaijan;
Whereas, on December 12, 2022, the Government of Azerbaijan initiated a grueling blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh that deprived the region’s population of food, medicine, fuel, and other necessities for nearly 10 months;
Whereas, on September 19, 2023, the Government of Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military offensive against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh that took the lives of hundreds of soldiers and dozens of civilians;
Whereas the Government of Azerbaijan used the threat of further violence to coerce the Armenian leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh to surrender their autonomy and dissolve their governing institutions;
Whereas over 100,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, facing the threat of further ethnic violence, fled to Armenia as refugees within 2 weeks of Azerbaijan’s assault;
Whereas the rhetoric of President Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials demonstrates a clear ethnic animus that continues to undermine efforts to build a durable and dignified peace;
Whereas international legal experts, including former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo and former United Nations genocide expert Juan Mendez, have determined that Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh violated the United Nations Genocide Convention;
Whereas Azerbaijan has a responsibility to protect ethnic Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, including churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and other cultural monuments and should support UNESCO to assess and catalog the region’s many culturally significant sites;
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends that Azerbaijan be designated as a country of particular concern, in part because of the destruction of Christian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh;
Whereas, according to the Government of Armenia, dozens of Armenian prisoners of war, civilian captives, and members of the political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh are now unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaijan on politically motivated charges or no charges at all;
Whereas the political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh now imprisoned by the Government of Azerbaijan, including Davit Manukyan, Davit Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, and Ruben Vardanyan, should be afforded due process in accordance with the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a party;
Whereas there are still thousands missing from the over 30-year conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh;
Whereas the Government of Azerbaijan has a well-documented record of subjecting Armenian prisoners to torture, humiliation, and other violations of fundamental rights afforded by the Geneva Conventions;
Whereas, as a result of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing campaign, over 100,000 displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh now seek refuge in Armenia where, because of the country’s limited resources, they face difficulties accessing housing, food security, employment, and healthcare;
Whereas the United States Government has announced more than $10,700,000 in urgent humanitarian assistance to respond to the crisis, but much more is needed;
Whereas international law provides for a right of return for populations displaced from their country of origin, including under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the European Convention on Human Rights to which Azerbaijan is a party;
Whereas the International Court of Justice issued a binding provisional measure in November 2023 requiring the Government of Azerbaijan to provide for the safe, unimpeded, and expeditious return of Armenian refugees who wish to return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh;
Whereas, in 2024, Freedom House, in partnership with Armenian and international human rights organizations, issued a report that they hope will contribute to the finding that the Azerbaijani authorities have engaged in a systematic and deliberate campaign aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population from Nagorno- Karabakh, thereby committing egregious violations of human rights and international law;
Whereas, prior to the Azerbaijani assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Yuri Kim testified before Congress that the United States Government ‘‘will not tolerate’’ any Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno-Karabakh;
Whereas the United States Government has yet to impose meaningful accountability measures on Azerbaijan for perpetrating an inhumane blockade and campaign of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh;
Whereas failing to hold the Government of Azerbaijan accountable for ethnic cleansing emboldens Azerbaijan’s leaders to engage in further anti-Armenian aggression;
Whereas, in recent years, the Government of Armenia has sought to deepen its ties to the United States and other liberal democracies and to distance itself from Russia;
Whereas the Government of Azerbaijan illegally occupies approximately 200 square kilometers of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory, including approximately 150 square kilometers captured during the aggressive military actions from 2020 to 2023;
Whereas the United States Government has a special interest in ensuring that Armenia’s security is not jeopardized because of its embrace of democracy and rejection of Vladimir Putin’s murderous regime;
Whereas the Government of Azerbaijan continues to demand unilateral territorial concessions from Armenia through the threat of force, often referring to portions of sovereign Armenian territory as ‘‘western Azerbaijan’’;
Whereas the United States Government has taken a direct role in facilitating a durable conflict-resolution process between Armenia and Azerbaijan; and
Whereas the Government of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia continue to engage in talks that have yet to finalize a peace agreement, leaving many concerned about potential for future violence: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the atrocities perpetrated by the Government of Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh;
(2) recognizes that Azerbaijan’s blockade and subsequent military offensive against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh constitute acts of ethnic cleansing;
(3) affirms the fundamental right of displaced Armenians to return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh with strong protections in place to ensure their security; and
(4) calls on the President and the relevant Federal agencies to take immediate action to—
(A) impose targeted sanctions on Azerbaijani government officials complicit in human rights abuses;
(B) restrict United States military aid to Azerbaijan consistent with 907 of the FREE DOM Support Act (Public Law 102–511; 22 U.S.C. 5812 note) ; (C) reaffirm the findings of the 2024 Freedom House report, which documented a deliberate campaign by the Government of Azerbaijan to ethnically cleanse the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh and recognizes that these actions against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh constitute ethnic cleansing;
(D) provide robust humanitarian assistance to respond to the refugee crisis in Armenia and rally the international community to do the same;
(E) continue to strengthen the United States-Armenia security partnership as the Government of Armenia bolsters its ties to Western allies; and
(F) facilitate diplomacy to achieve a just and lasting peace in the South Caucasus that provides for the release of all Armenians unjustly imprisoned by the Government of Azerbaijan, establishes a right of return and security guarantees for the displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and preserves the Armenian cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.
