YEREVAN, October 3. /TASS/. Opposition factions "Armenia" and "I Have The Honor" have boycotted a debate in the Armenian parliament on the South Caucasus country’s formal ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a TASS correspondent reports.
Armenian Envoy for International Legal Issues Yegishe Kirakosyan reiterated that Yerevan’s move to ratify the Rome Statute, and thus join the ICC and come under its jurisdiction, was aimed against those Azerbaijani troops implicated in committing war crimes on Armenian soil.
Armenia’s opposition parties earlier condemned the government’s decision to ratify the document, saying that the Armenian leadership was deliberately endangering the country’s allied relationship with Russia, which was fraught with serious consequences for Yerevan.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official told TASS that Armenia’s move to ratify the Rome Statute would have extremely negative implications for relations between the two countries. According to the Foreign Ministry, Moscow deems claims by Armenian officials that joining the ICC would not affect the country’s ties with Russia to be misleading, noting that Yerevan has failed to duly consider Moscow’s counter-proposals.
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.