Call for Sanctions

Members of the European Parliament, the French Senate and U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff have called for sanctions on Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev if they do not release the Armenians being held in Baku following the invasion and forced displacement of tens of thousands in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The sanctions presented by the European Parliament and the French Senate would target individuals in the Azerbaijani government responsible for multiple ceasefire violations and violations of human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as investigations into the abuses committed by Azerbaijani forces that could constitute war crimes.

In the United States, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a resolution calling on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians currently detained in the years-long attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh. The resolution also calls on President Biden to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on Azerbaijani Government officials responsible for the illegal detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Armenian prisoners of war, civilian detainees, hostages, political prisoners, and others detained persons.