III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 540 

Requesting information on Azerbaijan’s human rights practices pursuant to 

section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mr. 

FETTERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Requesting information on Azerbaijan’s human rights practices pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON AZER3 BAIJAN’S HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

4 (a) STATEMENT REQUESTED.—The Senate requests 

5 that the Secretary of State, not later than 30 days after 

6 the date of the adoption of this resolution, transmit to the 

7 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa8 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen9 ate, pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance 


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•SRES 540 IS 

1 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(c)), a statement, prepared 

2 in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary of State for 

3 Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and the Office of 

4 the Legal Adviser, regarding Azerbaijan’s human rights 

5 practices. 

6 (b) ELEMENTS.—The statement submitted under 

7 subsection (a) shall include the following elements: 

8 (1) All available information about the observ9 ance and respect for human rights and fundamental 

10 freedoms in Azerbaijan, including information con11 cerning alleged violations of internationally recog12 nized human rights by the Government of Azer13 baijan, including— 

14 (A) unlawful or arbitrary killings; 

15 (B) torture; 

16 (C) cruel, inhuman, or degrading treat17 ment or punishment of detainees; 

18 (D) political prisoners; 

19 (E) arbitrary arrest or detention; 

20 (F) the displacement of ethnic Armenians 

21 from Nagorno Karabakh; 

22 (G) restrictions on freedom of assembly, 

23 association, and movement; 

24 (H) pervasive problems with the independ25 ence of the judiciary; 


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1 (I) forced disappearances; 

2 (J) serious restrictions on freedom of 

3 speech, expression, and the media; 

4 (K) severe restrictions on political partici5 pation; 

6 (L) discrimination against women and gen7 der-based violence; 

8 (M) restrictions on religious freedom; 

9 (N) serious restrictions on internet free10 dom; 

11 (O) existence of the worst forms of child 

12 labor; and 

13 (P) destruction of religious and cultural 

14 sites. 

15 (2) A description of the steps that the United 

16 States Government has taken— 

17 (A) to promote respect for and observance 

18 of human rights in Azerbaijan and by the Gov19 ernment of Azerbaijan, including in the context 

20 of the conflict with Armenia and Artsakh 

21 (Nagorno-Karabakh); 

22 (B) to discourage any practices in Azer23 baijan that are inimical to internationally recog24 nized human rights; and 


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•SRES 540 IS 

1 (C) to publicly or privately call attention 

2 to, and disassociate the United States and any 

3 security assistance provided for the Government 

4 of Azerbaijan from, any practices described in 

5 subparagraph (B). 

6 (3) An assessment from the Secretary of State, 

7 notwithstanding any practices described in para8 graph (2)(B), whether extraordinary circumstances 

9 exist that necessitate a continuation of security as10 sistance for Azerbaijan. 

11 (4) If such circumstances exist, a description of 

12 the circumstances and the extent to which security 

13 assistance should be continued (subject to such con14 ditions as Congress may impose under section 502B 

15 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

16 2304)). 

17 (5) Other information, including— 

18 (A) an assessment from the Secretary of 

19 State of the likelihood that United States secu20 rity assistance (as defined in section 502B(d) of 

21 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

22 2304(d))) has or will be used in support of Az23 erbaijani activities related to the conflict with 

24 Armenia, aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh 


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1 (Artsakh), and the blockade of the Lachin Cor2 ridor; 

3 (B) a description and assessment of the 

4 actions that the United States Government is 

5 taking to ensure end use monitoring protocols 

6 for all weapons sold or transferred to Azer7 baijan; 

8 (C) an assessment of the impact of United 

9 States assistance provided to Azerbaijan over 

10 the past 10 years has had on the balance of 

11 power between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and on 

12 efforts to negotiate a durable and lasting peace 

13 settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan; 

14 (D) a description of the United States 

15 Government’s efforts in Azerbaijan to adhere to 

16 the prohibitions in section 620M of the Foreign 

17 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) and 

18 section 362 of title 10, United States Code, 

19 against the provision of foreign assistance to se20 curity units against which there are credible al21 legations of human rights violations (commonly 

22 referred to as the ‘‘Leahy laws’’) and to ensure 

23 that no units implicated in gross violations of 

24 human rights receive United States assistance, 


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1 including information on which units have been 

2 rejected in the Leahy vetting process; 

3 (E) an assessment from the Secretary of 

4 State of whether ethnic cleansing or genocidal 

5 acts have taken or are taking place in Nagorno6 Karabakh; and 

7 (F) a determination, within 30 days of 

8 passage of this resolution, as to whether Azer9 baijani officials found to be responsible for or 

10 complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly en11 gaged in, human rights abuses listed in para12 graph (1) meet the criteria for sanctions and— 

13 (i) a description of any actions that 

14 the United States Government is taking to 

15 implement sanctions, including sanctions 

16 under the Global Magnitsky Human 

17 Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

18 10101 et seq.) and section 7031(c) of the 

19 Department of State, Foreign Operations, 

20 and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 

21 2020 (division G of Public Law 116–94; 

22 133 Stat. 2864), to hold accountable Azer23 baijani officials responsible for gross viola24 tions of human rights or significant cor25 ruption; or 


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1 (ii) a justification for why sanctions 

2 have not been imposed on individuals 

3 found to meet the criteria for sanctions 

4 under existing law. 

Æ 


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