U.S. Congress To Introduce First-Ever Sanctions Bill Targeting Azerbaijani Officials Over Right Violations (updated)

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's Washington correspondent has learned from Congressional sources.

The draft bill, obtained by TURAN on Sunday, would lead to the sanctioning of over 40 Azeri 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 U.S. 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 detention and subsequent torture and ill-treatment of opposition leaders, activists, and critics of the Aliyev government like Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu, a prominent scholar who taught in the United States, raises fundamental concerns about due process and the integrity of the legal proceedings against him and others who express political dissent in Azerbaijan," reads the draft bill.

The authors go on to highlight that on March 6, 2024, Azerbaijani authorities detained six journalists in Baku and accused them of unfounded smuggling charges as part of an ongoing crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan

The bill also speaks about Armenian prisoners, noting that Azerbaijan’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."

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.

Here's the full list from the draft bill, which TURAN's sources described on Sunday as “not necessarily complete":

1. Lieutenant General Hikmat Izzat oglu Mirzayev, Commander of the Special Forces.

2. Lieutenant Colonel Elgun Aliyev, Chief of the Military Police.

3. Colonel Elshan Sanaev, Commander of Azerbaijani Military 218th Commando Brigade.

4. Lieutenant General Anvar Afandiyev, Commander of Azerbaijani Ground Forces.

5. Major General Jeyhun Hasanov, Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice.

6. Ali Naghiyev, Chief of State Security.

7. Samir Nuriyev, Chief of Staff to President Aliyev.

8. Fuad Alasgarov, Assistant to the President for Law Enforcement and Military Affairs.

9. Orhan Samadov, Office of the General Prosecutor.

10. Vugar Guliyev, Office of the General Prosecutor.

11. Ziya Masurov, Office of the General Prosecutor.

12. Parviz Mirhashimov, Office of the General Prosecutor.

13. Babakhan Hasanaliyev, Office of the General Prosecutor.

14. Hamza Eldar Akbar oglu, Office of the General Prosecutor.

15. Alakbarov Valeh Hasan oglu, Office of the General Prosecutor.

16. Faiq Qaniyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

17. Mirza Khankishiyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

18. Ilham Mahmudov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

19. Eldar Ismayilov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

20. Javid Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

21. Samir Aliyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

22. Azad Madjidov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

23. Zeynal Agayev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

24. Sabuhi Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

25. Afgan Hajiyev, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

26. Telman Huseynov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

27. Ali Mammadov, Judge at Baku Court on Grave Crimes.

28. Vusal Gurbanov, Narimanov District Court Judge.

29. Kamranov Hafiz, Narimanov District Court Judge.

30. Yusif Yusifov, Chief Investigator of the Investigation Department for Combating Organized Crime, Ministry of Internal Affairs.

31. Abbasov Mirzali Abdulali oglu, Baku Court of Appeals.

32. Major General Abulfat Rzayev, Main Organized Crime Department, Ministry of Internal Affairs.

33. Mammadov Elchin, First Deputy Prosecutor General.

34. Lieutenant Fuad Rafael oglu Nabiyev, Azerbaijan Ministry of Defence.

35. Elchin Guliyev, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

36. Ilham Mehdiyev, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

37. Vusal Sultanov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

38. Azad Alakbarov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

39. Ismayil Akbarov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

40. Ramin Bagirov, State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

41. Lieutenant Colonel Elgun Aliyev, Military Police Department of the Ministry of Defence.