SACRAMENTO — A senate resolution authored by Californian State senators Anthony J. Portantino and Bob Archuleta was introduced on Tuesday, calling on President Joe Biden to take immediate steps to address the ongoing illegal detention of Armenian POWs, civilians, and government leaders by Azerbaijan.
“It is unacceptable that we are allowing Azerbaijan to continue their genocidal policies and illegally hold and detain innocent Artsakh residents,” stated Senator Portantino.
“It is beyond sad that concrete steps have yet to be taken to address the ethnic cleansing of Armenians and the continued illegal detention of Armenian POWs, civilians and leaders. Azerbaijan and the Aliyev regime must be held accountable for these atrocities and the US and the international community should and must be more strident in its defense of Artsakh and Armenians being illegally held,” Portantino added.
“The remaining POWs, hostages, and other detainees must be immediately released by Azerbaijan and returned safely to their families,” said Senator Archuleta.
“In disregard of human rights and international law, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian civilian, military, and political leaders hostage. With over 100,000 Armenians forcibly displaced from their homes in Artaskh, California and the United States must unite in holding the Azerbaijani government responsible for these repeated, horrific assaults on the Armenian people,” added Archuleta.
The resolution is particularly personal for Senator Portantino, as several of those being held are friends and associates with whom he has met and socialized with, both in Artsakh and in his Glendale District Office.
Senator Portantino had recently hosted former Artsakh Foreign Minister and Advisor to the President David Babayan in Glendale, after being briefed in Artsakh by Babayan shortly after the 44-Day War. Minister Babayan is one of the government officials being illegally held by Azerbaijan. Senator Portantino was invited to go to Artsakh after the 44-Day War by the Human Rights Defender, Artak Beglaryan.
Sen. Portantino with former Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan Sen. Portantino with Artsakh’s former State Minister Artak Beglaryan
“We welcome the introduction of the resolution, which sheds light on the suffering of the people of Artsakh, especially POWs, hostages and detainees illegally held captive by the tyrannical regime of Azerbaijan,” said Ruben D. Karapetian, Government Affairs Director of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region.
“The release of all Armenian POWs, hostages, and detainees is paramount and only feasible by holding Azerbaijan and members of the Aliyev regime accountable for its continued violations of international law,” Karapetian added.
In September 2020, Azerbaijan launched a war of territorial expansion against the Armenians of Artsakh that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of over 70 percent of Artsakh territory. Azerbaijan perpetrated widely documented human rights abuses, including the unlawful targeting of schools, homes, hospitals, and churches with prohibited weapons.
For more than eight months, Azerbaijan held 120,000 people under a blockade, in isolation from food, water, medical supplies, fuel, electricity, and other basic needs. Following the illegal blockade, the Armenians of Artsakh endured a large-scale assault by the genocidal Aliyev regime in September 2023, resulting in the forced exodus of more than 100,000 people.
Currently, dozens of 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 since September 2023. According to the Third Geneva Convention, to which Azerbaijan is a signatory, the release of POWs and captured civilians upon the cessation of hostilities is required. Azerbaijan has still not fulfilled its international legal obligations.
SJR 11 calls on the Biden Administration to urge Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian POWs, hostages, and other detained persons. It also calls on Biden to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act violations on Azerbaijan for the illegal detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Armenian POWs and hostages.