Friday,
Armenian Court Allows Ratification Of International Criminal Court Treaty
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with Constitutional Court judges,
December 27, 2021.
The Armenian Constitutional Court paved the way on Friday for parliamentary
ratification of the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty which could
further strain Armenia’s relations with Russia.
Based in The Hague, the ICC is the first permanent international tribunal tasked
with prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and military
aggression. Armenia was among 120 countries that signed its founding treaty, the
Rome Statute, in 1998.
The Armenian parliament has still not ratified it, however. In 2004, the
Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty runs counter to several provisions of
the Armenian constitution which guarantee national sovereignty over judicial
affairs.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government decided last December to ask the
court to again look into the Rome Statute and determine its conformity with the
constitution. Justice Minister Grigor Minasian argued that the constitution has
been twice amended since 2004.
Minasian indicated at the time that Yerevan intends to appeal to the ICC over
Azerbaijan’s military attacks on Armenian territory launched since May 2021
The Constitutional Court ruled that the Rome Statute conforms to the amended
constitution. It said, among other things, that the two documents pursue
identical goals enshrined in “universal values.”
The ruling came one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian
President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in
Ukraine.
Ara Zakarian, an Armenian expert on international law, said a possible
ratification of the ICC treaty would obligate the Armenian authorities to arrest
Putin and extradite him to The Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus
country.
“If they promptly send the treaty to the National Assembly [for ratification]
then it will mean that [the ruling] was agreed [with Pashinian’s government,]”
Zakarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But in my view, the [ratification]
process will be halted.”
Most of the current Constitutional Court judges have been installed by
Pashinian’s political team.
Armenian law gives the government up to three months to request parliamentary
ratification in such cases. Neither the government nor the ruling Civil Contract
party commented on its next move.
By contrast, Russia was quick to react to the Armenian court ruling. Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov was reported to say that Moscow will discuss its
implications with Yerevan.
Earlier this week, a Russian law-enforcement agency opened a criminal case
against an ICC prosecutor and judges who issued the “illegal” arrest warrant.
Russia has long been Armenia’s main ally and trading partner. Relations between
the two countries have soured in recent months because of what the Armenian
government sees as a lack of Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Armenia, Azerbaijan ‘Still Far Apart’ On Peace Treaty
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan speaks during a news conference in
Yerevan, February 22, 2023.
Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to disagree on key terms of a bilateral peace
treaty discussed by them, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Friday.
The two sides have exchanged in recent months written proposals regarding the
treaty which Baku hopes will help to restore full Azerbaijani control over
Nagorno-Karabakh. Few of their details have been made public so far.
“There have been discussions, exchanges of views and some compromise language
has been defined,” Mirzoyan told Armenian lawmakers. “Unfortunately, this does
not apply to major, key issues of primary importance.”
“All those major issues of primary importance are still under discussion and the
parties are quite far apart on the bulk of them,” he said without elaborating.
Parliament speaker Alen Simonian similarly said late last month that Yerevan and
Baku still disagree on “three or four” elements of the would-be peace treaty.
But he too did not disclose them.
Baku maintains that the peace accord must be based on five elements which it
presented to Yerevan in March 2022. Those elements include mutual recognition of
each other’s territorial integrity. This would presumably mean Armenian
recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armenian leaders have been vague on such recognition in their public statements.
They have said only that the treaty should address the “rights and security” of
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.
The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, said earlier this
month that Yerevan is seeking relevant security guarantees for the Karabakh
Armenians. This may include the establishment of a “demilitarized zone” around
Karabakh or “international presence” in the Armenian-populated territory, he
said.
Azerbaijani Troops Accused Of Shooting At Karabakh Farmers
• Artak Khulian
Nagorno-Karabakh - A vineyeard near Chartar, March 22, 2023.
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have accused the Azerbaijani military of
systematically firing in recent days at Karabakh Armenian villagers cultivating
land in their communities.
They said that a group of residents of Machkalashen, a village in Karabakh’s
Martuni district, came under small arms fire from nearby Azerbaijani army
positions as they worked in local vineyards on Thursday and Friday morning.
Although none of them was injured by the gunfire, they had to stop their work,
the interior ministry in Stepanakert said in a statement.
Hunan Grigorian, the mayor of the neighboring village of Sos, said Azerbaijani
troops opened the fire despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers protecting
the farmers.
“They used not only assault rifles but also heavy machine guns,” Grigorian said,
adding that such incidents have been a regular occurrence in the last two weeks.
Similar shooting incidents were reported from another Martuni village, Chartar,
earlier this week. Artyom Jivanian, a local farmer, said workers in his vineyard
came under fire on Wednesday. They have still not returned to parts of the
10-hectare vineyard close to Azerbaijani army positions, said Jivanian.
“People are now working in places not visible from the Azerbaijani positions,”
he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “That way they can feel a bit safer.”
It was the third such incident reported by the Chartar mayor to Russian
peacekeeping forces in the past week. He asked the peacekeepers to help ensure
the security of local farmers.
Earlier in March, two other villages in Martuni also alleged Azerbaijani gunfire
towards their residents engaged in agricultural work.
The reported incidents highlight tensions mounting in the conflict zone more
than three months after Azerbaijan blocked the sole road connecting Karabakh to
Armenia.
The Azerbaijani military has repeatedly accused Armenia this month of
transporting military personnel and weapons to Karabakh and threatened to take
“resolute” actions to stop the alleged shipments. Yerevan has strongly denied
the allegations, saying that Baku may be preparing the ground for launching
offensive military operations in Karabakh or along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry released on Friday another purported footage of
a Russian armored vehicle escorting a convoy of trucks along a dirt road running
parallel to a section of the Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijani
government-backed protesters. It portrayed the video as further proof of Baku’s
allegations.
The Karabakh interior ministry insisted, however, that these and other vehicles
using the barely passable road transport only civilians and “humanitarian cargo.”
U.S. Hails Pashinian’s Promise Of Peace Deal With Azerbaijan
Germany - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during the
Munich Security Conference, February 18, 2023.
The United States welcomed on Friday Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s pledge to
negotiate an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty which contrasted with his claims
that Azerbaijan is planning another attack on Armenia.
“There will be a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and it will be
based on the joint official statements adopted at the highest level,” Pashinian
tweeted late on Thursday, repeating a statement made by him during a meeting of
his cabinet held earlier in the day.
Speaking at that meeting, Pashinian described as an “act of aggression”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest threats against Armenia. He said
Baku is questioning Armenia’s “right to exist” and “leading the situation to a
new escalation.”
However, Pashinian said in his ensuing Twitter post that “there won’t be а new
escalation.” “The international community must strongly support this narrative,”
he added.
Vedant Patel, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, praised Pashinian’s
tweet and shared it on his page.
“[Secretary of State Antony] Blinken is very engaged in facilitating peace
discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we are encouraged by the
progress made toward lasting and sustainable peace in the South Caucasus,” wrote
Patel. “We very much appreciate Nikol Pashinian’s message on that progress.”
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a news conference in
Yerevan, March 14, 2023.
Pashinian’s critics at home accuse him of making conflicting statements on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They say that his promise of a peace deal with Baku
is illogical given Yerevan’s allegations about possible Azerbaijani aggression.
Pashinian charged on March 14 that Baku is seeking a “mandate to perpetrate
genocide or ethnic cleansing in Karabakh.” “I consider the possibility of
escalation to be high,” he told a news conference.
The Azerbaijani military has repeatedly accused Armenia this month of
transporting military personnel and weapons to Karabakh and threatened to take
“resolute” actions to stop the alleged shipments. Yerevan has strongly denied
the allegations, saying that Baku may be preparing the ground for launching
offensive military operations in Karabakh or along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border.
The rising tensions followed Pashinian’s February 18 meeting with Aliyev which
was organized by Blinken in Munich. Blinken spoke of an “opportunity to bring a
peace agreement to fruition” when he commented on Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
talks on Wednesday.
Pashinian complained last week that the Azerbaijani side is rejecting most
Armenian proposals on the peace treaty and making more demands unacceptable to
Armenia.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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