Yerevan condemns Baku detention of former Nagorno-Karabakh leaders

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Oct 2023 19:13

The Armenian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Baku's act and urges the International Court of Justice to respond to its requests.

In this photo released by Azerbaijan's border guard service on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, Azerbaijan's border guard officers pose with detained Ruben Vardanyan, center, in Nagorno-Karabakh. (Azerbaijan's border guard service via AP)

After the Azerbaijani State Security Service announced on Tuesday that they had detained former political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia condemned on Wednesday the detentions.

"We strongly condemn the arrests by Azerbaijan of the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, Ruben Vardanyan and others," the official statement of the Armenian foreign ministry read.

It continued, "Despite the dialogue with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh, the statements of high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan regarding the willingness to respect and protect the rights of Armenians, not to hinder their return to Nagorno-Karabakh, and on establishment of peace in the region, the law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan continue arbitrary arrests."

We strongly condemn arrests by Azerbaijan of leaders of #NagornoKarabakh.

▪️Republic of #Armenia will take all possible steps to protect rights of illegally detained representatives of NK including in intl courts.
▪️ We also call on intl partners to be consistent in all their… pic.twitter.com/HYA5qEvFP8
— MFA of Armenia🇦🇲 (@MFAofArmenia) October 4, 2023

Moreover, the statement pointed out that on September 28, Yerevan appealed to the United Nations International Court of Justice demanding Baku avoid "punitive actions" that would target the authorities and military personnel of the formerly unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and requesting the ICJ apply "an interim measure in the case of Armenia against Azerbaijan under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination."

The Foreign Ministry then reaffirmed that "the Republic of Armenia will take all possible steps to protect the rights of illegally detained representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh, including in international courts."

Armenia ratifies ICC Rome Statute moving step further away from Russia

Bringing Armenia under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the parliament in Yerevan ratified the Rome Statute, earleir on October 3rd, as the country pivots closer to the West and is a step away from its decade-long allyship with Russia.

Given that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenia, who is now closer to becoming a member of the Court, is expected, as are other members, to arrest Putin if he were to land on its territory.

In that regard, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dubbed the ratification as "wrong", highlighting, "We absolutely do not agree with the words of Armenian Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan that Armenia's decision to join the Rome Statute is due to the "inadequacy" of the CSTO and the Armenian-Russian partnership's tools to ensure Armenia's security."

Moreover, Peskov stressed that "it is not so. And I think that, in the end, the majority in Armenia understands that the tools of the CSTO and the Armenian-Russian partnership are absolutely irreplaceable at this moment."

In Yerevan, the vote highlighted a growing schism as 22 of the Armenian opposition voted against the ratification while 60 voted for it. The schism underscored Armenia's need to position itself on the global stage amid the current critical juncture.

The Armenian President must now have 60 days to sign the ratification before it goes into effect.