Armenia to ratify Rome Statute to initiate criminal proceedings against Azerbaijan for its war crimes

YEREVAN, December 29. /ARKA/. The Armenian government launched today the process of ratifying the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to join the latter.

Justice Minister Grigor Minasyan said the Rome Statute was signed by Armenia in 1999 but has not been ratified so far.

The ICC is vested with power to prosecute those responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Minasyan, the Rome Statute applies to the territory and population of Armenia from 00:00, 12 May 2021 (when Azerbaijan invaded Armenia).

Earlier, Armenia's representative for international legal affairs Yeghishe Kirakosyan said that Armenia would have the opportunity to institute criminal proceedings for war crimes that have been committed on Armenian territory, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a member of the ICC or not after ratifying the Rome Statute.

In November 2022, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that during the last 1.5 years Armenia has been subjected to Azerbaijani aggression three times (on May 11 and November 14, 2021 and September 13,2022), occupying 140 square kilometers of its sovereign territory.

Despite numerous appeals by the Armenian authorities, the Azerbaijani side refuses to withdraw its troops from sovereign Armenian territory, moreover, it is building engineering and fortification facilities there. -0-