IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1327 

Condemning Azerbaijan for perpetrating an ethnic cleansing campaign against 

the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2024 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning Azerbaijan for perpetrating an ethnic cleansing 

campaign against the Armenian population of NagornoKarabakh. 

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, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 

1991, the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh established a de facto independent republic, known as the 

Republic of Artsakh, to exercise self-determination in 

their homeland; 

Whereas, on December 12, 2022, 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; 


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•HRES 1327 IH 

Whereas, on September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a fullscale military offensive against the Armenian population 

of Nagorno-Karabakh that took the lives of hundreds of 

soldiers and dozens of civilians; 

Whereas 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 the territory 

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 motivating their anti-Armenian aggression; 

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 Azerbaijani forces have systemically destroyed Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, including churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and other cultural monuments; 

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 Armenian Government, dozens of 

Armenian prisoners of war, civilian captives, and memVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jun 28, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1327.IH HR1327

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•HRES 1327 IH 

bers 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 Azerbaijan include Davit Manukyan, Davit 

Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, 

Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, 

and Ruben Vardanyan; 

Whereas the true number of Armenians held captive by Azerbaijan is likely higher than the Armenian Government’s 

count given the many individuals who are still missing 

and the lack of transparency surrounding Azerbaijan’s 

detention practices; 

Whereas 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 NagornoKarabakh now seek refuge in Armenia where they face 

difficulties accessing housing, food security, employment, 

and health care; 

Whereas the United States has provided a vastly insufficient 

amount of humanitarian aid to respond to the refugee 

crisis in Armenia; 

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; 


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•HRES 1327 IH 

Whereas the International Court of Justice issued a binding 

provisional measure in November 2023 requiring Azerbaijan to provide for the safe, unimpeded, and expeditious return of Armenian refugees who wish to return to 

their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh; 

Whereas, prior to the Azerbaijani assault on NagornoKarabakh, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Yuri Kim testified before Congress that 

the United States ‘‘will not tolerate’’ any Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno-Karabakh; 

Whereas the United States 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 Azerbaijan accountable for ethnic 

cleansing emboldens Azerbaijan’s leaders to engage in 

further anti-Armenian aggression; 

Whereas, in recent years, Armenia has sought to deepen its 

ties to the United States and other liberal democracies 

and to distance itself from Russia; 

Whereas the United States has a special responsibility to ensure that Armenia’s security is not jeopardized because 

of its embrace of democracy and rejection of Vladimir 

Putin’s murderous regime; 

Whereas Azerbaijan illegally occupies 83 square miles of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory that it captured in an unprovoked assault on Armenia in September 

2022; 

Whereas Azerbaijan continues to demand unilateral territorial 

concessions from Armenia through the threat of force, 


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•HRES 1327 IH 

often referring to portions of sovereign Armenian territory as ‘‘western Azerbaijan’’; 

Whereas the United States has taken a direct role in facilitating a durable conflict-resolution process between Armenia and Azerbaijan; and 

Whereas Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression against the Republic of Armenia and its refusal to adhere to international 

law undermine efforts to achieve a just peace in the region: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, 

3 the atrocities perpetrated by Azerbaijan against the 

4 Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh; 

5 (2) recognizes that Azerbaijan’s blockade and 

6 subsequent military offensive against the Armenian 

7 population of Nagorno-Karabakh constitute acts of 

8 ethnic cleansing; 

9 (3) affirms the fundamental right of displaced 

10 Armenians to return to their homes in Nagorno11 Karabakh with strong protections in place to ensure 

12 their security; and 

13 (4) calls on the President and the relevant Fed14 eral agencies to take immediate action to— 

15 (A) impose targeted sanctions on Azer16 baijani Government officials complicit in human 

17 rights abuses; 


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•HRES 1327 IH 

1 (B) prohibit the provision of United States 

2 military aid to Azerbaijan pursuant to section 

3 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act; 

4 (C) make a public determination as to 

5 whether the atrocities committed by Azerbaijan 

6 against the Armenian population of Nagorno7 Karabakh constitute ethnic cleansing; 

8 (D) provide robust humanitarian assist9 ance to respond to the refugee crisis in Armenia 

10 and rally the international community to do the 

11 same; 

12 (E) strengthen the United States-Armenia 

13 security partnership through the provision of 

14 military aid, joint military exercises, and intel15 ligence and logistical support; and 

16 (F) facilitate diplomacy to achieve a just 

17 and lasting peace in the South Caucasus that 

18 provides for the release of all Armenians un19 justly imprisoned by Azerbaijan, establishes a 

20 right of return and security guarantees for the 

21 displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, and 

22 preserves the Armenian cultural heritage of 

23 Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Æ 


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