Bill Text: CA SJR11 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Armenian hostages.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-3)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-13 - Introduced. Referred to Com. on RLS. [SJR11 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SJR11-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Joint Resolution
No. 11
| Introduced by Senators Archuleta and Portantino (Coauthors: Senators Dahle, Rubio, and Wilk) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Mike Fong, Friedman, Holden, Lackey, Petrie-Norris, and Santiago) |
February 13, 2024 |
Relative to Armenian hostages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 11, as introduced, Archuleta.
Armenian hostages.
This measure would call on the Biden Administration to urge Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian hostages, to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act violations on Azerbaijan, to suspend all United States military and economic assistance to Azerbaijan, and to work with the international community to ensure the protection and preservation of Armenian cultural heritage sites. The measure would also support House Resolution 861, which calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war and captured civilians.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, On December 7, 2023, Azerbaijan released 32 prisoners of war (POWs) who had been held captive since 2020 and Armenia released two Azerbaijani soldiers held since April 2023, signaling that a peace agreement between the two countries would finally be reached. However, at least 36 Armenian prisoners remain in Azerbaijani custody, with over 80 Armenian soldiers and civilians still missing. Additionally, Azerbaijan has held eight former military and political leaders of Artsakh captive as political prisoners since September 2023; and
WHEREAS, The Third Geneva Convention, Article 118, to which Azerbaijan is a signatory, requires the release of POWs and captured civilians upon the cessation of hostilities. Despite Azerbaijan’s international legal obligations and a November 2020 ceasefire agreement, they have not released all detainees and instead continue to detain new POWs, hostages, and captured civilians; and
WHEREAS, In September 2020, Azerbaijan, with support from Turkey, launched a military assault against the Armenian people of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also known as Artsakh. And in December 2022, Azerbaijan began a blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Artsakh to the world through the Republic of Armenia. This blockade cut off over 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly people, from food, medicine, and other critical supplies, thereby creating extreme hardship leading to the death of many; and
WHEREAS, Following nearly 10 months of an illegal blockade, the Armenians of Artsakh endured a vicious, large-scale assault by the Aliyev regime of Azerbaijan in September 2023, resulting in the forced displacement of more than 100,000 Armenians from Artsakh; and
WHEREAS, In response to these continuous acts of violence and violations of humanitarian law, United States Representative Adam Schiff introduced House Resolution 861, calling on Azerbaijan to immediately comply with international commitments regarding the release and treatment of prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained persons. The resolution calls for the implementation of Global Magnitsky sanctions against Azerbaijani officials responsible for abuses against POWs and credible investigations and prosecutions of the perpetrators in these cases. It also calls for the suspension of United States assistance to Azerbaijan and full implementation of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 in light of Azerbaijan’s ongoing violations of human rights; and
WHEREAS, Over the past several years, Azerbaijan has intentionally destroyed Armenian cultural and religious sites during times of war and in times of relative peace. In some cases, Azerbaijani soldiers have placed Azerbaijani flags on destroyed Armenian cultural sites and posted pictures and videos of the destruction on social media. Azerbaijan is now in control of hundreds of Armenian churches, monuments, museums, and cross-stones in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, some of which date to the earliest centuries of Christianity. Azerbaijan’s goal of cleansing the region of its historic Armenian roots has included the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious sites; and
WHEREAS, The County of Los Angeles is home to the greatest number of Armenians outside of Armenia itself, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion on January 9, 2024, to stand in solidarity with the Armenian people; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature calls on the Biden Administration to urge Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian POWs, hostages, and other detained persons; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the Biden Administration to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. Sec. 10102) violations on Azerbaijan for the illegal detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Armenian POWs and hostages; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the Biden Administration to suspend all United States military and economic assistance to Azerbaijan; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature calls on the Biden Administration to work with the international community to ensure the protection and preservation of Armenian cultural heritage sites now under Azerbaijani control; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature supports House Resolution 861, which calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all prisoners of war and captured civilians; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of the Treasury, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
