Title: Calling on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war and captured civilians.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution calls on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians. The resolution also urges the Department of State to engage with Azerbaijani authorities to bring about this result.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 240 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 240

 Calling on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war and 
                          captured civilians.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2021

 Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Speier, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. 
    Valadao, Ms. Titus, Mr. Costa, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Cicilline, Mrs. 
     Napolitano, Ms. Chu, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. 
 Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Langevin, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Porter, Ms. Clark of 
   Massachusetts, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Sires, Mr. Levin of 
Michigan, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. 
 Nunes, Ms. Omar, Ms. Sanchez, and Mr. Suozzi) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war and 
                          captured civilians.

Whereas, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, with support from Turkey and foreign 
        militia groups, launched a military assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, also 
        known as Artsakh, resulting in the deaths of thousands and displacing 
        tens of thousands of ethnic Armenian residents;
Whereas, on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia signed a 
        tripartite statement to end the conflict;
Whereas in signing the November 9 statement, all parties agreed that the 
        ``exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees as well as 
        the remains of the fatalities 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 and require that 
        all detainees be treated humanely;
Whereas, despite Azerbaijan's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and their 
        commitments in signing the November 9 statement, more than 100 days 
        after the end of the conflict, the Government of Azerbaijan continues to 
        detain an estimated 200 Armenian prisoners of war, hostages, and 
        detained persons, misrepresenting their status in an attempt to justify 
        their continued captivity;
Whereas Human Rights Watch reported in December 2020 that Azerbaijani military 
        forces had mistreated ethnic Armenian prisoners of war and subjected 
        them to ``physical abuse and humiliation'';
Whereas Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights issued a 
        report on the conflict that ``document[s] crimes against humanity and 
        other atrocities committed by Azerbaijani armed forces and Turkish-
        backed Islamist fighters against Armenians'', including beheadings, 
        summary executions, and the desecration of human remains;
Whereas there is limited reliable information about the condition or treatment 
        of prisoners of war and captured civilians, and there is significant 
        concern that female detainees in particular could be subject to sexual 
        assaults and other mistreatment;
Whereas Azerbaijan's continued detainment of prisoners of war and captured 
        civilians calls into serious question their commitment to human rights 
        and negotiating an equitable, lasting peace settlement;
Whereas Armenia has fulfilled its obligations under the November 9 statement and 
        international law by returning Azerbaijani prisoners of war; and
Whereas the United States, along with France and Russia, is a co-chair of the 
        OSCE Minsk Group which was created to seek a durable and peaceful 
        solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls upon Azerbaijan to immediately return all 
        Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians; and
            (2) urges the Secretary of State to engage at all levels 
        with Azerbaijani authorities, including through the OSCE Minsk 
        Group process, to make clear the importance of adhering to 
        their obligations, under the November 9 statement and 
        international law, to immediately release all prisoners of war 
        and captured civilians.
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