Civilnet
By Mane Berikyan
The Armenian government on Friday formally asked parliament to ratify the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Moscow has repeatedly warned that such a move would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations.
This comes as the ICC issued an arrest warrant earlier this year for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia and areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC. Only countries that have ratified the treaty are considered full members. More than 100 countries around the world are ICC members, but notable non-signatories include the United States, Russia and China.
The Armenian government signed the Rome Statute in 1999 but delayed ratifying it for years. The government restarted the ratification process late last year, then turned to the country’s Constitutional Court to ascertain if the Rome Statute is compatible with Armenia’s constitution.
According to the government, after ratification, Armenia will have the opportunity to apply to the high court to make Azerbaijan's war crimes in the region the subject of international legal investigations.
The decision to move forward with ratifying the Rome Statute raises the possibility Putin may be effectively banned from Armenia, which would be expected to comply with the ICC’s arrest order.
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