Tuesday, April 23 2024 14:07

ArmInfo.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 reports  citing its sources in Congress

According to the source, 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.  "