This resolution condemns Azerbaijan's violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, encourages investigation of war crimes committed by Azerbaijani forces, and reaffirms the House of Representatives' support of Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1400 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1400
Condemning atrocities committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 28, 2022
Ms. Speier (for herself, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Eshoo, and Mr. Pallone)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning atrocities committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Preamble states that ``Member
States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the
United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms'';
Whereas Article 2 of the United Nations Charter directs all Member States to
``refrain . . . from the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any State'';
Whereas the Republic of Azerbaijan joined the United Nations on March 2, 1992,
and thus has a duty to abide by the conditions of the United Nations
Charter and pledges reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights;
Whereas the Republic of Azerbaijan ratified the Geneva Conventions in 1993,
which establish international legal standards on the treatment of
civilians, prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers who are otherwise
rendered incapable of fighting;
Whereas Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits, among other
violations, ``mutilation, cruel treatment and torture . . . [and]
outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading
treatment'';
Whereas grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes
under both United States law and the Rome Statute, including willful
killing and extrajudicial executions, torture, inhumane treatment,
causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful
deportation or confinement, and hostage taking;
Whereas on September 13, 2022, the Republic of Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked
and illegal attack against the sovereign territory of the Republic of
Armenia;
Whereas this attack followed a large-scale, unprovoked invasion of the Nagorno-
Karabakh region by Azerbaijan in October 2020;
Whereas on September 28, 2020, Azerbaijani forces conducted a targeted attack on
an Armenian military ambulance in which assailants shot and killed a
military doctor;
Whereas on October 14, 2020, Azerbaijani rocket artillery struck the Martakert
Military Hospital in an ``apparently deliberate'' attack, according to
Human Rights Watch, in which the nearest military target was over 1.5
kilometers away and the rocket's satellite guidance capability ensures
accuracy within 10 meters;
Whereas on October 28, 2020, an Azerbaijani artillery rocket struck the
maternity ward of the Republican Medical Center, causing extensive
damage;
Whereas the targeting of both military and civilian medical facilities and
workers is a violation of international humanitarian law;
Whereas in October 2020 video footage authenticated by non-governmental
organizations including Amnesty International showed Azerbaijani
soldiers decapitating two civilians on two separate occasions while they
were bound or pinned to the ground;
Whereas in October 2020 Azerbaijan's Armed Forces used white phosphorus
munitions, prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, causing severe burns
and the deaths of civilians;
Whereas firsthand accounts have confirmed the torture and extrajudicial killing
of Armenian POWs and captured civilians held illegally under Azerbaijani
detention;
Whereas since October 2020 Azerbaijan has illegally detained over 100 prisoners
of war and captured civilians in violation of the November 9, 2020,
tripartite agreement, in which Azerbaijan committed to repatriating all
prisoners of war and captured civilians;
Whereas as of September 20, 2022, Azerbaijani forces have captured at least 20
additional serviceman and 3 civilian prisoners of war;
Whereas Article 15 of the first Geneva Convention of 1949 directs parties to a
conflict to ``take all possible measures to search for and collect the
wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to
ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their
being despoiled'';
Whereas on September 16, 2022, Armenia's Chief of Staff of the Army verified
disturbing video footage showing the mutilation and desecration a female
servicemember's body by Azerbaijani soldiers;
Whereas video footage recorded in September 2022 depicted a captured Armenian
soldier receiving treatment for a shoulder wound, whose body was later
returned to the Armenian Government, suggesting that he was killed in
captivity;
Whereas Azerbaijan has directly targeted Armenian cultural sites as a means of
further disenfranchising the Armenian people by eliminating their
cultural existence;
Whereas Armenia and Azerbaijan are States parties to the Second Protocol of the
1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict, adopted in 1991, which reads, ``the Parties to
a conflict shall ensure the immunity of cultural property under enhanced
protection by refraining from making such property the object of attack
or from any use of the property or its immediate surroundings in support
of military action.''
Whereas Article 53 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, prohibits
committing any ``acts of hostility directed against the historic
monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the
cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples'';
Whereas on October 8, 2020 Azerbaijan's forces twice shelled the 19th-century
Ghazanchetsots Holy Saviour Cathedral in Shushi, a culturally and
religiously significant building of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
causing extensive damage;
Whereas a report issued by Human Rights Watch on December 16, 2020, found that
the attack ``appear[ed] to be a deliberate targeting in violation of the
laws of war,'' and its analysis of weapon remnants found at the scene of
the strike were ``consistent with a munition capable of being accurately
directed at a specific target'';
Whereas a report issued on May 12, 2021, by the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended placing Azerbaijan
on U.S. Department of State's Special Watch List for engaging in or
tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the
International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), in part due to ``recent
violations committed amid renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding territories'' and raised serious concerns over the
preservation of Armenian places of worship, cemeteries, and other
religious and cultural heritage sites in the region;
Whereas on September 16, 2021, the Republic of Armenia initiated proceedings
before the International Court of Justice alleging violations of the
International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to
which both the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan are
party;
Whereas international humanitarian law requires parties to a conflict to
distinguish between civilian and military objects and violations of the
laws of war committed with criminal intent, either intentionally or
through reckless action, can constitute war crimes;
Whereas the United States serves as a Co-Chair of the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group, along with France and Russia,
and is committed to sustainable, long-term peace in the region; and
Whereas both Azerbaijan and Armenia are NATO Partnership for Peace countries,
and have committed to increase stability, diminish threats to peace, and
build strengthened security relationships among NATO and nonmember
countries in the Euro-Atlantic area: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns Azerbaijan's destabilizing actions, including
violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which have severely
undermine the international rule of law;
(2) encourages the United States Government and
international community to petition the International Court of
Justice, European Court of Human Rights, or other appropriate
international tribunals to take appropriate steps to
investigate any and all war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani
forces at the direction of President Ilham Aliyev;
(3) calls on Azerbaijan to immediately investigate all
grave violations of the Geneva Conventions perpetrated by
Azerbaijani servicemembers against Armenian servicemembers and
civilians;
(4) condemns the intentional or reckless destruction,
vandalization, or desecration of all Armenian cultural and
religious heritage sites;
(5) reaffirms the United States strong support for Common
Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, to which the United
States is party, as well as the non-treaty based law and
longstanding norms outlined in the Geneva Protocol I and 1899
and 1907 Hague Conventions;
(6) encourages the President of the United States to
explore the applicability of sanctions on Azerbaijan in
response to its aggression and potential war crimes; and
(7) reaffirms its support of Armenia's sovereignty and
territorial integrity, as well as that of the Republic of
Artsakh, against Azerbaijan's military aggression and blatant
violations of international laws and norms.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber.
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