The Rome Statute of the ICC entered into force in Armenia

In October last year, the chairman of the international relations commission of the Armenian Parliament, Sarkis Khandanyan, stated that there is still time, Russia can sign an agreement with Armenia on bypassing the Rome Statute. But since yesterday, it can be considered time expired. Because the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court officially entered into force in Armenia.

First of all, let's say that Armenia is the 19th country in the Eastern European group and the 124th in the world in terms of joining the document. As for the agreement that Khandanya talked about months ago, there is no doubt that such a proposal was a manipulation. The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, later clarified the different aspects of this manipulation, and from his words it came out that Yerevan was joking with Moscow about the Rome Statute.

Of course, the Armenian train has left for Russia, and it seems impossible to return it with some kind of agreement. The ratification of the Rome Statute is, figuratively speaking, a higher speed of the train. Khandanyan and Simonyan were politically impolite when they advised the Kremlin to reach one of the wagons. As it was said in the famous Azerbaijani film "Let it be, let it be", "it's not enough to call me a monkey, do you still give me a hand?"

Yes, official Moscow called Yerevan's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court unacceptable against the background of the court's decisions against the Russian leadership. In this regard, at the same time, we will talk about other points related to the proposal made by S. Khandanya.

The essence of the problem is that the ICC has issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other country officials. Therefore, if V.Putin enters the territory of Armenia, he will be arrested. You can probably imagine what that means. That is, the inability of the leader of the Russian state, which is historically connected to the South Caucasus, to set foot in one of the countries of the region should not be considered as an ordinary event. In any case, Armenia does not need further proof of how it is playing with fire...

In Algarez, in September 2023, Vladimir Vardanyan, the head of the State Law Commission of the Armenian Parliament, stated that Article 98 of the Rome Statute of the ICC allows to eliminate the threat to Armenia-Russia relations after the ratification of the document. He referred to the American practice of concluding bilateral agreements guaranteeing immunity from court jurisdiction to US citizens based on that article of the law. Vardanyan reminded that Armenia has already signed an agreement with the United States based on this article, and the document does not prohibit the conclusion of similar agreements with countries that do not want to recognize the priority of the court.

However, in October of the same year, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Galuzin, said in an interview to RBK that Moscow does not take seriously the idea of ​​concluding an agreement to resolve issues after the ratification of the Rome Statute of Yerevan. According to him, the Russian side expected that Armenia would refrain from accepting the document, because the rules of the ICC recognize the possibility of applying to the services of this court for countries that have not signed the Rome Statute. That is, it is possible to turn to the ICC even without ratifying the Rome Statute. The final conclusion from what Galuzin said: Armenia makes a purely political decision, shows loyalty to the anti-Russian front of the West...

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan decided to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC because representation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and documents on the Armenian-Russian partnership are insufficient to ensure the security of the republic. The Prime Minister's opinion was indirectly confirmed by the Speaker of the Parliament Alen Simonyan. Referring to Azerbaijan, he expressed the opinion that "war crimes have been committed and are being committed against Armenia". In general, it follows from what the Armenian officials said that the ratification of the Rome Statute will give Yerevan a dividend for taking Baku to international courts...

In general, let us also state that the Russian side has repeatedly emphasized that it does not approve of Armenia's plans to ratify the document. For example, months ago, a source in the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told RIA Novosti that Moscow considers Yerevan's plans to join the Rome Statute unacceptable against the background of illegal court "orders" against the Russian leadership. The source also emphasized that the Armenian colleagues were warned about the negative consequences of possible steps for bilateral relations with Russia.

Let's pay attention to one more aspect against the background of Russia's objection to the Rome Statute. Thus, on September 8, 2023, Armenian Ambassador to Russia Vagarshak Harutyunyan was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the ambassador was told about a number of "unfriendly steps" by Yerevan, including the harm of starting the process of ratifying the Rome Statute.

In addition, the official representative of the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova, while commenting on Yerevan's ratification process of the Rome Statute of the ICC, contacts with Ukraine, and Armenia's exercises with the United States, said that the official Yerevan, with such steps, is favorable for Washington and Brussels to continue their hostile policy against Russia. creates conditions.

It should be noted that the Armenian Parliament ratified the Rome Statute on October 3 last year. 60 deputies of the ruling "Citizen Agreement" Party voted to join the BCM. The opposition forces represented in the parliament opposed the ratification of the document. For example, the representative of the "Armenia" opposition faction, Artsvik Minasyan, said that the procedure for ratifying the Rome Statute is against the country's constitution, and the deputies from the ruling party who approved it exceeded their authority. Hayk Mamijanyan, leader of another opposition "My Honor" faction, called the process unconstitutional. He clarified that as early as 2004, the Armenian Constitutional Court considered the Rome Statute inconsistent with the basic laws of the country. According to Mamijanyan, the decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and it is unacceptable for the institution to return to the same issue again.

However, as it is known, in April of last year, that is, before the ratification by the parliament, the Constitutional Court issued a decision on the compatibility of the Rome Statute with the jurisdiction of Armenia. Thus, the road to ratification began.

By the way, the Republican party of the former president of the country, Serzh Sargsyan, is among those who oppose the Rome Statute in Armenia. This party said that the government's decision to ratify the document in the current geopolitical conditions is full of unexpected consequences. Because the party believes that the BCM is a very politicized institution.

Sargsyan's party also drew attention to the fact that the ICC charter was not ratified by powerful states such as the United States, China and Russia, permanent members of the UN Security Council, and declared that the adoption of the Rome Statute would severely affect Armenia-Russia relations.

A. JAHANGIROGLU
XQ