As you know, on September 27, 2020 an unprovoked war was launched against the indigenous Armenian people in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). For six weeks, the Azerbaijani military, with the open and full support of Turkey along with jihadist mercenaries, attacked and targeted the Armenian people. As a result, thousands of soldiers were killed, and hundreds of civilians became casualties. Upwards of one hundred thousand people forcibly fled from their homes, while hospitals, churches and schools were destroyed by missiles, cluster munitions, strike drones and internationally prohibited white phosphorus chemical warfare.

Regardless of ceasefire agreement signed on November 10, 2020 between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia to end military conflict over the disputed enclave of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Azerbaijan continues its inhumane treatment of Armenian Soldiers & Civilian Prisoners of War tragically documented on Azeri social media sites with total & blatant disregard for international laws & with impunity. As videos of civilians and prisoners of war (POWs) continue to surface and signs of brutal mutilation are seen during body exchanges, Azerbaijan is violating a group of international laws in regards to war crimes & human rights abuses.

Particularly, Azerbaijan is violating the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols by which civilians and POWs must be treated humanely in all circumstances. They should be protected against any act of violence, as well as against intimidation, insults, and public curiosity. A partial list of International and Humanitarian Violations by Azerbaijan include, however are not limited to, Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (Article 7: Crimes against Humanity), First Geneva Convention (Article 3), Third Geneva Convention (Article 13: Humane Treatment of Prisoners), Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 32: Prohibition of corporal punishment, torture, etc.), Additional Protocol I (Article 11: Protection of Persons & Article 75: Fundamental Guarantees) to the Geneva Convention, Additional Protocol II (Article 4: Fundamental Guarantees) to the Geneva Convention, Customary International Humanitarian Law (Rule 90: Torture, cruel or inhuman treatment and outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, are prohibited), and European Convention on Human Rights (Article 3: No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment).

As a constituent, I urge US, as a long-standing Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, to condemn such inhumane treatment and war crimes against Armenian POWs and immediately enforce Global Magnitsky sanctions against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for committing state-sponsored war crimes and crimes against humanity to ethnically cleanse Armenians of the region. The Global Magnitsky Act is powerful statutory tool enacted by Congress and gives the White House broad power to sanction foreign officials who are responsible for serious human rights abuses.

I look forward to hearing of your actions on this urgent matter, which I will share widely with my friends, family, social network, and local and international community.

Thank you for your attention to this critically important matter!