Armenian government starts process of ratifying Rome Statute over Azeri war crimes, risk of new aggression

• 12.29.2022, 13:10
•  World,  Armenia

The Armenian government is launching a process of ratifying the charter (Rome Statute) of the International Criminal Court, Armenpress reports.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002.

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan said at the Cabinet meeting that Armenia signed the Rome Statute on October 1, 1999 but still hasn’t ratified it.

Minasyan said it is necessary to apply to the Constitutional Court to check the compliance of Armenia’s present-day constitution ( adopted in 2015) with the Rome Statute, because the process was disrupted in 2004 when the high court ruled that the Rome Statute contradicted the then-constitution which was adopted in 1995.

Minasyan said the Rome Statute must be ratified given the fact that starting May 2021 the Azeri military committed an act of military aggression and invaded into sovereign territory of Armenia and are still deployed in various parts of sovereign territories of Armenia. In September 13-14 of 2022 Azerbaijan again launched massive military aggression against various parts of sovereign territory of Armenia, which led to hundreds of civilian and military deaths. Severe war crimes were perpetrated during the Azeri attack, Minasyan said.

“Furthermore, judging by Azerbaijan’s conduct and belligerent statements, the risk of new Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia remains high,” Minasyan said, adding that in these conditions ratifying the Rome Statute is highly important because that would make the Azeri crimes, including war crimes committed in Armenia subject to the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, which would be a preventive and restraining measure against Azerbaijan.