US State Department reacts to ratification of Rome Statute by Armenian parliament
YEREVAN, October 4. /ARKA/. Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesman for the US Department of State, commented on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the Armenian Parliament.
‘We respect Armenia’s sovereignty and independence, and we’ll leave it to Armenia’s Government to comment on its legislative processes, of course. We respect the right of every country to join the ICC and have been encouraged by many states, including Armenia, that have undertaken commitments to promote justice, accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity,’ Patel said.
The Armenian National Assembly ratified by a vote of 60 to 22 October 3 the Rome Statute of the ICC. It will enter into force 60 days after being signed into law by the president.
The Armenian authorities have repeatedly stated that the purpose of joining the ICC is to hold the Azerbaijani leadership accountable for war crimes against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia reacted extremely negatively to the information about the ratification of the Rome Statute in Armenia, warning that it would have the most negative consequences for Armenian-Russian relations.
Joining the ICC means Armenia will be obliged to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he visits the country because the ICC t has issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of illegally deporting hundreds or more children from Ukraine - a claim dismissed by the Kremlin as meaningless.
‘We would not want the president to have to refuse visits to Armenia for some reason," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
"Armenia is our ally, a friendly country, our partner ... But at the same time, we will have additional questions for the current leadership of Armenia... We still believe this is an incorrect decision, » Peskov said.
The ratification of the Rome Statute has nothing to do with Armenian-Russian relations, the chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Relations, pro-government MP Sarkis Khandanyan told reporters Tuesday.
"The ratification of the Rome Statute proceeds solely from the interests, security of Armenia. Armenia takes all steps to ensure its security in different ways, including in terms of legal security, and the Rome Statute is one of its components," he said. Khandanyan believes that there is no need to exaggerate the consequences of the ratification of the Rome Statute.-0-
