IV 

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, 


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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; 


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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 


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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 largeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Nov 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR861.IH HR861

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ly 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 


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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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls upon Azerbaijan to immediately return 

3 all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages, and other 

4 detained persons, provide information on the where5 abouts of servicemen and civilians who were last 

6 seen in Azerbaijani custody but whose status is un7 known, and allow independent monitoring and public 

8 reporting on the current health and wellbeing of 

9 those detained, and when applicable, details on their 

10 cause of death and the precise location of their re11 mains; 


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1 (2) calls on the President to impose sanctions 

2 under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account3 ability Act on Azerbaijani Government officials re4 sponsible for the illegal detention, torture, and 

5 extrajudicial killing of Armenian prisoners of war, 

6 civilian detainees, hostages, political prisoners, and 

7 other detained persons, and to urge credible inves8 tigations and prosecutions of the perpetrators in 

9 these cases; 

10 (3) calls on the President to immediately sus11 pend any new, current, or pending military or secu12 rity assistance from the United States to Azerbaijan, 

13 and to fully enforce section 907 of the FREEDOM 

14 Support Act, in light of Azerbaijan’s violation of 

15 internationally recognized human rights, including 

16 under the Third Geneva Convention; 

17 (4) urges the Secretary of State to engage at all 

18 levels with Azerbaijani authorities, including through 

19 bilateral talks and cooperation with the Organization 

20 for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk 

21 Group or other partners, to make clear the impor22 tance of adhering to their obligations under inter23 national law and commitments made under the No24 vember 9 statement, to immediately release and 


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1 treat humanely all prisoners of war, hostages, and 

2 other detained persons; and 

3 (5) urges the Secretary of State to regularly 

4 provide substantive updates to the Committee on 

5 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

6 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate re7 garding the progress and outcomes of engagement 

8 with Azerbaijan on the status of prisoners of war, 

9 hostages, and other detained persons. 

Æ 


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