III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 930 

Condemning the Government of Azerbaijan for perpetrating an ethnic 

cleansing campaign against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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; 


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•SRES 930 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 930 IS 

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 NagornoKarabakh now seek refuge in Armenia where, because of 

the country’s limited resources, they face difficulties accessing housing, food security, employment, and health 

care; 

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 


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•SRES 930 IS 

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 NagornoKarabakh, thereby committing egregious violations of 

human rights and international law; 

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 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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

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

3 the atrocities perpetrated by the Government of 

4 Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of 

5 Nagorno-Karabakh; 

6 (2) recognizes that Azerbaijan’s blockade and 

7 subsequent military offensive against the Armenian 

8 population of Nagorno-Karabakh constitute acts of 

9 ethnic cleansing; 


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1 (3) affirms the fundamental right of displaced 

2 Armenians to return to their homes in Nagorno3 Karabakh with strong protections in place to ensure 

4 their security; and 

5 (4) calls on the President and the relevant Fed6 eral agencies to take immediate action to— 

7 (A) impose targeted sanctions on Azer8 baijani government officials complicit in human 

9 rights abuses; 

10 (B) restrict United States military aid to 

11 Azerbaijan consistent with 907 of the FREE12 DOM Support Act (Public Law 102–511; 22 

13 U.S.C. 5812 note); 

14 (C) reaffirm the findings of the 2024 Free15 dom House report which documented a delib16 erate campaign by the Government of Azer17 baijan to ethnically cleanse the Armenian popu18 lation from Nagorno-Karabakh and recognizes 

19 that these actions against the Armenian popu20 lation of Nagorno-Karabakh constitute ethnic 

21 cleansing; 

22 (D) provide robust humanitarian assist23 ance to respond to the refugee crisis in Armenia 

24 and rally the international community to do the 

25 same; 


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•SRES 930 IS 

1 (E) continue to strengthen the United 

2 States-Armenia security partnership as the 

3 Government of Armenia bolsters its ties to 

4 Western allies; and 

5 (F) facilitate diplomacy to achieve a just 

6 and lasting peace in the South Caucasus that 

7 provides for the release of all Armenians un8 justly imprisoned by the Government of Azer9 baijan, establishes a right of return and secu10 rity guarantees for the displaced Armenians of 

11 Nagorno-Karabakh, and preserves the Arme12 nian cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Æ 


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