Commerce Should Deny License Application for Gun Exports to Azerbaijan, Senator Says
The Commerce Department may be considering approving an export license for assault-style or sniper semi-automatic rifles to Azerbaijan despite the “credible allegations of atrocities” that Azerbaijan has committed for years against Armenians, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a Feb. 1 letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo, Menendez said Commerce should deny the license or explain how it plans to ensure the weapons don't contribute to killings and other human rights violations.
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Menendez said the agency “may be considering granting a license” for the exports and said he is “strongly opposed to sending any deadly weapons to Azerbaijan.” If the agency plans to approve the shipments, it should explain to Menendez the “guarantees” it’s requiring of Azerbaijanis to “ensure that these weapons are not used to commit further atrocities,” and explain what “mechanisms” it will use to “ensure that such misuse will not occur,” including end-use monitoring or other verifications.
If the weapons are for sale to individual Azerbaijani citizens, Menendez asked, how will Commerce verify the guns won’t be diverted to the government, military, security or paramilitary forces? The senator also asked whether Commerce has consulted with the State Department, and whether the State Department supports approving the license.
Commerce’s “consideration of this export license further compounds my dismay that the Administration continues to allow the export of assault-style and sniper rifles abroad -- even while supporting an assault-style rifle ban domestically -- and deepens my reservations about the Department of Commerce having jurisdiction over such exports,” Menendez said.
He added that “it remains my firm belief that such jurisdiction should be returned to the State Department to ensure the appropriate foreign policy considerations integral to such decisions are taken into account.” Menendez has urged the administration to reverse a 2020 rule that transferred export controls over certain defense items from the State Department to Commerce (see 2001170030, 2207150027, 2109210058, 2201050023 and 2204010006).
A Commerce spokesperson didn’t comment.