MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will lead to very negative consequences for bilateral relations, as Yerevan is not taking Moscow's proposals on the Statute into account, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS.
"Our Armenian partners were informed about the unacceptability of Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC in the context of this structure issuing 'arrest warrants' for Russia's leadership. Yerevan's initiative to conclude a bilateral agreement was considered, with Moscow proposing a compromise solution that could suit both sides. Unfortunately, it was not taken into consideration, and instead Armenia made a political decision to ratify the Rome Statute. This will have most negative consequences for bilateral relations," the ministry said.
According to the Russian diplomat, the assertion made by Armenian representatives that joining the ICC will allegedly have no impact on Russian-Armenian relations "is out of touch with reality." "At the very least, it is difficult to imagine Russia’s leadership visiting the country, especially when the deputies of the ruling party are calling for the arrest of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin at the request of the Hague 'justice.'" Moscow expects that reason will prevail and the Armenian National Assembly will not 'stamp' a decision that is known to be poisonous for Armenian-Russian relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry summed up.
On Wednesday, the parliamentary Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs approved a draft law on ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC and sent it to the parliament. Yerevan said that the move was not directed against Russia, but aimed at prosecuting Azerbaijanis who committed war crimes.
The Rome Statute
The Rome Statute is an international treaty that established the International Criminal Court. It is also its Charter. The document was adopted at the diplomatic conference in Rome on July 17, 1998 and went into effect on July 1, 2002. It outlines the functions, jurisdiction and structure of the court (which is not part of the UN).
The ICC prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of aggression. The amendment on crimes of aggression was passed in December 2017. The ICC exercises jurisdiction only over crimes committed after July 1, 2002 on the territory of a state party and nationals of state parties on the territory of any other country. If a crime is committed in a state that is not a party to the Statute or its nationals are suspected of grave crimes, the UN Security Council can issue a mandate to launch a criminal investigation.
States that are not parties to the ICC and seek to investigate crimes committed on their soil can issue a special statement to recognize the court’s jurisdiction over a crime. The UN Security Council can suspend the court’s work and any arrest warrants it issues. The ICC has jurisdiction only over individuals. The court can sentence a person to 30 years or even life in prison, but is prohibited from imposing the death penalty.