THE HAGUE, Netherlands—Armenia can pay tribute to victims of past atrocities and ensure protection under the rule of law for future generations by joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Coalition for the ICC said today.
Throughout the month of April, Armenia is the focus of the Coalition’s Campaign for Global Justice, which encourages states to join the Rome Statute—the founding treaty of the only permanent international court capable of trying perpetrators of grave crimes.
“International justice mechanisms such as the ICC seek to preserve the historic record regarding the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, yet they can also serve to prevent those crimes from happening again,” said Tatevik Gharibyan of Civil Society Institute Armenia. “We are hopeful that our government will ratify the Rome Statute as soon as possible. Armenia’s membership would serve as a tribute to victims of the past and contribute to preventing the creation of new victims in the future.”
In a letter to President Serzh Sarkisian, the Coalition urged Armenia to take the necessary steps to join the 122 other states that are members of the ICC and help put an end to impunity.
Although Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1999, its Constitutional Court ruled that the Statute was incompatible with the Armenian constitution in 2004.
“Ten years have passed since the Armenian Constitutional Court ruled on the incompatibility of the Rome Statute,” said Kirsten Meersschaert Duchens, the Coalition’s Regional Coordinator for Europe. “For a decade now, Armenia has sadly been absent from the developing architecture of an international justice system that seeks to acknowledge and redress the sufferings of victims of mass atrocities.”
Late last year, a Commission for Constitutional Reform was established to consider amendments to the Armenian constitution.
“The current process of constitutional review provides a long-awaited opportunity for the government to ensure that amendments are made to pave the way for ratification of the Statute, and we look forward to seeing proposals to that end,” added Meersschaert Duchens.
The ICC is the world’s first permanent international court to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Central to the Court’s mandate is the principle of complementarity, which holds that the Court will only intervene if national legal systems are unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Coalition is a global network of civil society organizations in 150 countries working in partnership to strengthen international cooperation with the ICC; ensure that the Court is fair, effective and independent; make justice both visible and universal; and advance stronger national laws that deliver justice to victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
I smell a western trap. We cannot ever, under any circumstance whatsoever, cede an iota of Armenia’s sovereignty to biased, western-controlled international courts.
Join ICC, and try the communists who organized the Koltso (Ring) operation in Artsakh. It’s a crime against humanity, and they must pay their dues.
If the Armenians can Architect all palaces and minarets of Istanbul…
And then were betrayed, genocided by so-called cruel Turkish populace…
Can’t act and teach the criminals how to behave …!!!
The honesty doesn’t need to be graduate from law schools
It needs honest genes…DNA…To protect humanity from cruelty…
Armenians know who are the Turks very well…
“Kill, Rape, Confiscate, Lie, Deny…”
This is their motto… and their genes…
No one can change their DNA…
Turks use to cut Armenian and Kurdish tongues
during Ottoman era…If they spoke their mother tongue
and trained their people on this criminal concept–––
“If you kill any Armenian you go to heaven”
So they stated killing 1.5 in 1915 till today and since they arrived a millennium before,Thus, count how many they butchered by their scimitars to define their ––– Genocides after Genocides…!!!
Thus Armenians became Minority and they are Majority…
And according to recent studies, 10% of Turks have Armenian genes…through rape and Turkification (I don’t like to use Islamatization, because they did change the identity of Armenians: name, surname, language, culture, ethnicity, religion, evem they applied on Arabs who are muslims before them, Arabs call it Tattrek (turkification) …As they say the Turkish President Gul’s grandmothers are Turkified Armenian…and many others…How can one reject and insult his natural genes…did humanity reach such a degree? but fear from turkish scimitar can do any thing…changing honesty to lie and act cruel…and deny…!!!
Did you know that Turgut Ozal became president of Turkey and he was Kurdish. Yes, Turkey once had a Kurdish origin President.
“In a letter to President Serzh Sarkisian, the Coalition urged Armenia to take the necessary steps to join the 122 other states that are members of the ICC and help put an end to impunity.”
So such a coalition of wow!!! 122 countries!!! and the Armenian Genocide is still mostly muzzled??
some coalition it is…
more endless caviar and champagne meetings in five star hotels to discuss important stuff and whatnot..
We absolutely must join that efficient coalition at any cost!!!
I am against Armenia’s being part of the ICC (genocide, crimes against humanity) court and its laws.
The Turks and Azeris, who are much more influential than we, will accuse Armenians of war crimes past and present. And they will win their cases because they have more resources and more political clout than we do.
Until the day when the world is on our side on the matter of genocide, ignore the court. if Armenia would just say that, I think we would make some progress.