The Armenian Parliament ratified this Tuesday (3) the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in a context of growing tensions with Russia following the serious crisis in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The law ratifying the instrument was approved with 60 votes in favor and 22 against, according to the president of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian.
The decision was taken despite the opposition refusing to participate in the debate, which took place after Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee gave its approval to the ratification last week.
The parliamentary group “Armenia” considered the debate without constitutional amendments “unconstitutional”.
“The National Assembly does not have the authority to discuss the issue of ratifying the Rome Statute without constitutional amendments, with its numerous risks,” said the group’s secretary, Artsvik Minasián.
Armenia’s representative for International Legal Affairs, Eguishe Kirakosian, said that the Constitutional Court ruled in March that ratification of the ICC does not contradict the Magna Carta.
Armenia acceded to the Rome Statute in October 1999, but had not ratified it until now.
Once promulgated by the Caucasian country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the ratification law will come into force within the next 60 days. Thus, Armenia will become the 124th State party to the Rome Statute. The law was submitted to Parliament by Pashinyan on September 13.
Azerbaijan issue
The head of the Armenian government assured that the decision “has nothing to do with relations between Armenia and Russia, but with Armenia’s security problems”.
Its approval will allow Yerevan to bring legal action before the Hague-based high court against Azerbaijan, a country it accuses of war crimes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Until ten days ago, this territory of Azerbaijan was inhabited by about 120 thousand Armenians. After a successful Azeri lightning military operation on September 19 and 20, 100,617 Karabakhs took refuge in Armenia and the self-proclaimed republic announced its dissolution.
Ratification of the Rome Statute, however, will also force Armenia to execute ICC arrest warrants, such as the one issued on March 17 against Putin for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
The measure taken by Armenia will probably further worsen its relations with Russia, accused by Pashinyan of abandoning Armenia to its fate in the face of the threat from Azerbaijan.
As Kirakosyan recently explained, Yerevan plans to retroactively recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction from May 10, 2021.
Kirakosyan acknowledged that this generated discomfort in Russia and highlighted that, for this reason, Yerevan proposed to Moscow in April “the signing of a bilateral agreement concerning the application of the Rome Statute, on the basis of which the parties undertake to offer mutual guarantees on the issues of greatest concern.”
The proposal, based on Article 98 of the ICC statute, “completely dispels all concerns on the Russian side,” he explained.
The Kremlin warned last week that it would be a “very hostile” decision for Armenia to ratify the Rome Statute.
“We are confident that such decisions (ratification) will not negatively influence our bilateral relations (with Armenia), because it is a status in which we are neither participants nor recognize,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia’s response
The Kremlin classified Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute as “improper” on Tuesday (3).
“We doubted from the beginning that, from the point of view of bilateral relations, Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was appropriate. We still believe that it is an inappropriate decision,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. , in his daily press conference.
“Armenia is a friendly state, our partner. And, of course, we have a lot in common with the Armenian people. And we have no doubt that this will unite us forever,” the spokesman said today in a much softer tone than than the previous employee.
At the same time, he stated that Russia has “additional complaints” to the current leaders of Armenia, which have already been communicated to them.
Peskov also said that Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute will make it necessary to seek a “diplomatic solution” for Russia, which does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The spokesperson added that the preparation of a bilateral Armenian-Russian document allowing Armenia not to execute the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Putin for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children is “just an idea on the Armenian side.”
“It is not clear how special conditions, exclusions could be guaranteed. We certainly wouldn’t want the president (Putin) to have to give up visiting Armenia,” he said.
Finally, Peskov expressed the Kremlin’s “absolute disagreement” with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements that the ratification of the Rome Statute is due to the fact that the association with Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization be insufficient to guarantee Armenia’s security.
“The Armenian side has nothing better than these instruments”, he emphasized. (With information from the EFE Agency)
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