News - US Congress members plan to introduce bill on sanctions against Azerbaijan

A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers led by Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) is planning to introduce the first-ever Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act this week, Turan news agency’s Washington correspondent has learned from Congressional sources. The bill would lead to the sanctioning of over 40 Azerbaijani officials who have played an active and chief role in undermining the rule of law and human rights in the country. The bill would require the Biden administration to determine within 180 days of its passage whether a list of Azeri officials included in the bill qualify for sanctions under existing US legislations including the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, as well as the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. The Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2024 highlights the Aliyev government's brutal repression of domestic political opposition as "grave concern" for the human rights of Azerbaijanis. The bill speaks also about Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan, noting that the latter’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 ability to negotiate an equitable, lasting peace settlement [with Armenia]." The list of Azerbaijani high-ranking officials to be sanctioned in the bill includes a cross-section of government ministers, judges, and prosecutors at all levels responsible for the ongoing political persecution of Azerbaijan's pro-democracy activists.