Ministry of Justice working actively for proper implementation of the Rome Statute — Deputy Minister receives Montpellier delegation

Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan received representatives of the Human Rights Institute of Montpellier, the Chamber of Advocates of Montpellier and the Municipality of Montpellier.

Karen Karapetyan thanked the delegation for the initiative for co-operation and presented the policy of the Government on human rights protection and the efforts that it has made in this area. In this regard, the Deputy Minister attached importance to the activities of the Government aimed at ensuring and strengthening the legal and social guarantees for persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, including the plan to have a new chapter about protection of the rights of persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in the 2023-2025 Action Plan arising from the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection.

During the meeting, the parties touched upon the final conclusions with regard to fulfilment of the obligations by Azerbaijan under the UN Convention against Torture, published by the UN Committee against Torture on 10 May 2024, expressing their concern for not granting a status to persons kept in confinement in Azerbaijan, to prisoners of war and in relation to subjecting to criminal liability.

In this context, Karen Karapetyan considered as pivotal the verification of the Rome Statute by Armenia, given its importance for addressing the crimes of Azerbaijan in international courts. The Deputy Minister noted that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia is working actively for proper implementation of the Rome Statute for both harmonisation of the legislative framework and capacity-building for the co-operation of the law enforcement system and courts with the International Criminal Court.

At the end of the meeting, the parties predetermined the possible directions for co-operation and reached an agreement to co-operate with international courts for implementation of the activities targeted at exchange of experience.

Let us mention that the Municipality City Council and members of the joint delegation actively show support in voicing the issues regarding the rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh at international platforms.