Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2025
The Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act of 2025 is a bill that requires the President to conduct a formal review of whether any Azerbaijani individuals should be subject to U.S. sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act or related authorities. Within 180 days of enactment, the President must submit a determination to specified congressional committees detailing which listed individuals, if any, meet the criteria for sanctions and why. The bill supplies a long, specific roster of Azerbaijani officials—including military leaders, prosecutors, judges, security officials, and other government actors—who could be targets of sanctions based on alleged human rights abuses and entanglements in wrongful actions during and after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and subsequent events. The findings section of the bill underscores alleged war crimes, arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human rights violations as justification for reviewing sanctions. Importantly, the bill does not itself impose sanctions; rather, it initiates a formal, President-initiated review with a clear list of potential targets and required reporting to Congress.
Key Points
- 1Purpose and timeline: The bill requires a presidential determination within 180 days of enactment on whether any listed Azerbaijani individuals meet sanctions criteria under the Global Magnitsky Act or related authorities, based on the documented findings of severe human rights abuses and war crimes.
- 2Sanctions authorities referenced: The review centers on potential use of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (section 1263(b)) and a separate authority (section 7031(c) of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act).
- 3The list of listed persons: A long roster of Azerbaijani officials is identified as potentially subject to sanctions. Roles include top military commanders, prosecutors, judges, interior/military police figures, state security service leaders, border service officials, and other senior government and judicial officials.
- 4Scope of findings: The bill’s findings describe alleged war crimes and serious human rights abuses tied to Nagorno-Karabakh, including displacement, detentions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and repression of civil society and press.
- 5Congressional oversight: The act defines which congressional committees will review the President’s determination (Senate: Senate Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Banking; House: House Foreign Affairs, Appropriations, Financial Services).