Bill Text: CA SJR9 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Joint Resolution 9

Introduced

Bill Title: The blockade of the Republic of Artsakh.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-08-30 - Re-referred to Com. on JUD. [SJR9 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SJR9-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Joint Resolution

No. 9

Introduced by Senator Portantino
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Holden)
(Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Durazo, Menjivar, Stern, Wiener, and Wilk)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Wendy Carrillo and Luz Rivas)

August 24, 2023

Relative to the blockade of the Republic of Artsakh.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SJR 9, as introduced, Portantino. The blockade of the Republic of Artsakh.

This measure would condemn Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Republic of Artsakh and urge the United States government and the international community to take action to protect and assist the Armenians of Artsakh.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Artsakh is the ancestral homeland of the Armenian people and has been a center of Armenian language, culture, and religion, having maintained its autonomy for over two millennia; and

WHEREAS, The Armenians of Artsakh were targeted during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by Azerbaijani nationalists with the backing of the Ottoman Empire, where they massacred over 30,000 Armenians in Baku, over 20,000 Armenians in Shushi, and over 10,000 Armenians in Nakhichevan; and

WHEREAS, Artsakh was an integral part of the First Republic of Armenia founded in the wake of the Armenian Genocide due to the advocacy of United States President Woodrow Wilson, who recognized the independence of the fledgling Armenian state; and

WHEREAS, Despite Artsakh’s distinctly Armenian identity, it was arbitrarily and illegally separated from Armenia by the Soviet Union at the direction of Joseph Stalin in 1921 and placed under the administrative control of Soviet Azerbaijan; and

WHEREAS, For over 70 years, the Armenians of Artsakh suffered routine discrimination and persecution at the hands of Soviet Azerbaijani authorities culminating in anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait (1988), Kirovabad (1988), and Baku (1990), resulting in hundreds of deaths and the forced displacement of over 400,000 Armenians; and

WHEREAS, In response to escalating anti-Armenian violence, the Armenians of Artsakh exerted their right to self-determination and declared their independence on September 2, 1991, which was reaffirmed by referendum on December 10 of the same year, recognizing that the Azerbaijani government was unable and unwilling to ensure the fundamental rights of the Armenian people; and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijan shortly thereafter launched a war of aggression against Armenia and Artsakh that saw Azerbaijan lay siege to Armenian towns and cities and perpetrate human rights violations, and which ended in Armenian victory with a ceasefire brokered by Russia; and

WHEREAS, For the next 25 years, the Armenians of Artsakh consolidated a free and democratic society despite constant attempts by Azerbaijan to undermine the security and prosperity of the region; and

WHEREAS, In September 2020, Azerbaijan abandoned decades of multilateral diplomacy and launched a war of territorial expansion against the Armenians of Artsakh that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of over 70 percent of Artsakh territory; and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijan perpetrated widely documented human rights abuses, including the unlawful targeting of schools, homes, hospitals, and churches with prohibited weapons, the execution of Armenian civilians, and torture of Armenian prisoners of war; and

WHEREAS, Following a trilateral ceasefire statement signed in November 2020, Azerbaijan’s aggression has continued unabated, including routine incursions into Artsakh’s territory and continuous invasions and occupation of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia since May 2021; and

WHEREAS, Since December 12, 2022, under the guise of environmental protests, the Azerbaijani government has sent disguised military personnel and members of progovernment nongovernmental organizations claiming to be eco-activists to block the Lachin corridor, a humanitarian corridor that connects Artsakh to the rest of the world through Armenia; and

WHEREAS, For more than eight months, 120,000 people have been under the blockade, among them 2,000 pregnant women, 30,000 children, 20,000 older persons, and 9,000 persons with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, The number of miscarriages because of malnutrition and constant stress of the mothers has tripled since the start of the blockade; and

WHEREAS, The population of the Republic of Artsakh has been in total isolation from food, water, medical supplies, fuel, electricity, and other basic needs for more than two months; and

WHEREAS, On July 27, 2023, Azerbaijan blocked 360 tons of emergency humanitarian aid going from Armenia to Artsakh; and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijan has abducted critically ill patients, including 68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan, who was being transferred from Artsakh to Armenia for treatment by the International Committee of the Red Cross; and

WHEREAS, On August 15, 2023, K. Hovhannisyan, a resident of the City of Stepanakert, Artsakh, born in 1983, died as a result of chronic malnutrition, protein deficiency, and energy deficiency; and

WHEREAS, On August 15, 2023, Azerbaijan opened fire on the border where a member of the European Union monitoring mission was present; and

WHEREAS, The President of Azerbaijan is constantly using xenophobic and genocidal language against Armenians in speeches and interviews; and

WHEREAS, The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as including “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction”; and

WHEREAS, Starvation is an invisible genocidal weapon; and

WHEREAS, The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in the Artsakh region and called for the United Nations Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature has previously expressed support for the Republic of Artsakh’s continuing efforts to develop as a free and independent nation in order to guarantee its citizens those rights inherent in a free and independent society in Assembly Joint Resolution 32, adopted on September 11, 2014; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the State of California urges the Presidents of the United States, the European Commission, and the United Nations General Assembly to press Azerbaijan to ensure that there is a free and adequate flow of food, medicine, and humanitarian goods through the Lachin corridor; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California urges the White House, the United States Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, the European Union, and the United Nations to urge Azerbaijan to open the Lachin corridor to have a free and adequate flow of humanitarian aid, food, and medicine; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California urges the White House and the United States Department of State to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and to cut off military assistance provided under the waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 and other assistance to Azerbaijan; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California urges the International Criminal Court to start an investigation of the current-day genocide committed against the Armenians in Artsakh; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California urges the Azerbaijani government to uphold its international obligations to respect and protect human rights in accordance with the ceasefire agreement of November 2020; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California urges the United States government and the international community to take immediate action to assist the Armenians of Artsakh and urges the local, national, and international media to more vigorously cover the blockade of Artsakh by the Republic of Azerbaijan and the pain and suffering the people of Artsakh are experiencing; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.