Why don’t Armenia’s authorities recognize ICC jurisdiction over crime of aggression?
Filing lawsuits with international courts is no longer in Armenia’s interests, Siranush Sahakyan, president of the International Comparative Law Center and the lawyer representing the Armenian prisoners’ interests at the European Court of Human Rights, stated in a discussion dedicated to the policy of Armenophobia carried out by the Azerbaijani leadership.
As per Sahakyan, the Armenian authorities, by ratifying the Rome Statute, have recognized the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) not in full, but only for three types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. For some reason, the crime of aggression by the Azerbaijani authorities was not recognized as an ICC jurisdiction. This is despite the fact that since 2021, Azerbaijani troops have been in the sovereign territory of Armenia, and in 2022 they expanded their occupation.
According to the lawyer, the reason for such decisions by the Armenian authorities is political. The same passivity applies to the ICC’s tools for holding individuals accountable. After all, it is obvious that Azerbaijan’s aggression and other crimes were committed on the direct orders of the country’s leadership.
Armenia is cautious even in pointing out the guilt of the Azerbaijani state. In this context, Sahakyan listed these grave crimes committed by Azerbaijani military personnel in Artsakh and Armenia: murders, enforced disappearances, captivity of military personnel and civilians, torture, and public executions.
On the contrary, Azerbaijan is initiating processes at the UN—and with the aim of blaming Armenia and “proving” that Azerbaijan is suffering from “Armenian aggression.”
