Day: September 28, 2023
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—In what Russia called an “extremely hostile” move, Armenia’s leadership on Thursday took another step towards accepting jurisdiction of an international court that issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.
The Armenian parliament’s committee on legal affairs gave the green light for parliamentary ratification by of the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This means that the National Assembly controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party should debate and vote on it next week.
The decision came amid a continuing deterioration of Armenia’s relations with Russia, which is increasingly calling into question the long-standing alliance of the two nations. The Russian Foreign Ministry listed earlier this month Yerevan’s plans to ratify the treaty, known as the Rome Statute, among “a series of unfriendly steps” taken by Pashinyan’s administration.
Pashinyan reaffirmed the ratification plans on September 24 as he blamed Moscow for Azerbaijan’s latest military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and effectively accused it seeking to turn Armenia into a Russian province. He claimed that signing up to the Rome Statute would help to safeguard Armenia’s independence.
The main official rationale for the ratification is to bring Azerbaijan to justice for its “war crimes” and to prevent more Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia. Pro-government members of the parliament committee echoed it as they backed a corresponding decision proposed by Pashinyan’s government.
Opposition politicians and other critics counter that Azerbaijan is not a party to the Rome Statute and would therefore ignore any pro-Armenian ruling by the ICC. They say the real purpose of ratifying the treaty is to drive another wedge between Russia and Armenia and score points in the West which has accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The ICC endorsed those accusations when it issued the arrest warrant for Putin in March.
Independent legal experts believe that the ratification will commit the Armenian authorities to arresting Putin and extraditing him to The Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country. Yeghishe Kirakosyan, who represents the Armenian government in international legal bodies, denied this during a meeting of the parliament panel boycotted by opposition lawmakers.
Kirakosyan claimed that Putin and other heads of state enjoy immunity from arrest and that the Rome Statute allows countries to sign bilateral agreements to ignore ICC arrest warrants.
Yerevan offered to sign such a deal with Moscow in April, he said, adding that the Russian side has still not responded to the proposal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he is “not familiar” with the proposal cited by Kirakosian. Armenia’s ratification of the ICC treaty would be a move “extremely hostile” towards Russia, said Peskov.
“Moscow hopes that there will be sober-minded forces in the National Assembly of Armenia that will not rubber-stamp a decision that is obviously toxic for Armenian-Russian relations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry warned, for its part. The “political decision” to ratify the treaty is unacceptable to Moscow, it told the RIA Novosti news agency.
The ministry already warned on Monday that Pashinyan is “making a huge mistake by deliberately trying to destroy the multifaceted and centuries-old ties between Armenia and Russia.”
Armenia was among 120 countries that signed the Rome Statute, in 1998. But its parliament did not rush to ratify the document. In 2004, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty runs counter to several provisions of the Armenian constitution which guarantee national sovereignty over judicial affairs.
Pashinyan’s government decided last December to ask the court to again look into the Rome Statute and determine its conformity with the constitution that has been twice amended since 2004. The court ruled in March that the Rome Statute conforms to the amended constitution. The ruling came one week after the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin.
Canada is deeply concerned by the rapid increase in humanitarian needs arising from the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh that has forced more than 70,000 people to flee to Armenia since last week, a number that is increasing daily, the Country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Today, the Honorable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, and the Honorable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Canada has provided $2.5 million in humanitarian assistance funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross to address urgent needs stemming from the crisis. This funding will help provide emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services and other life-saving assistance.
Canada continues to call for the unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, in accordance with international humanitarian law. Civilians, including those on the move, must also be shielded from harm.
“Canada is deeply concerned by the humanitarian consequences of this crisis. The funding announced today will go toward helping the many people and communities that need urgent assistance,” said. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development.
“Canada continues to call for safe and unrestricted humanitarian access in the region and for the respect of human rights. Canada supports the continuation of the current ceasefire and calls for a permanent cessation of hostilities. We stand in solidarity with the people affected by this crisis, and the support announced today will help provide them some much-needed relief,” said Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
To address the urgent needs stemming from the deeply concerning crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, Canada is providing $2.5M in humanitarian assistance funding to the @ICRC. We will always protect the most vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/Irb9L0KiwX
— Ahmed Hussen (@HonAhmedHussen) September 28, 2023
Armenia has been elected to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency with an overwhelming support of Member States.
Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the 35-member IAEA Board for the 2023–2024 period. The election took place on Thursday, 28 September, at the plenary session of the 67th IAEA General Conference.
“We are committed to contributing to advancement of IAEA priorities for use of nuclear science and technology for peace and development,” Armenia’s Representative to the Agency Armen Papikyan said, addressing the conference.
The newly elected Board members are the following: Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, and Ukraine.
For the 2023–2024 period, the new composition of the 35-member IAEA Board will be as follows: Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Namibia, Netherlands, Paraguay, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, and Ukraine.
The Board of Governors is one of the two policy-making bodies of the IAEA, along with the annual General Conference of IAEA Member States.