Pashinyan signals readiness to abandon international accountability for Azerbaijan’s war crimes
WASHINGTON—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan indicated his willingness to withdraw international legal complaints against Azerbaijan as part of ongoing peace talks during an Atlantic Council event held yesterday as part of his delegation trip to Washington, D.C.
In response to a question on the unresolved articles of the draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan stated: “Another article [is] about the complaints against each other in legal institutions. And the idea is to call back all those complaints. In general, we are okay with that idea, as well. But what is our proposal? Not only to call back all these complaints, but not to raise all those issues in bilateral relations, as well.”
Pashinyan confirmed that he and Aliyev had agreed on 15 of 17 articles of a peace agreement, with the relinquishing of legal claims and the withdrawal of the European monitoring mission the last points of contention.
Pashinyan’s proposal to withdraw legal cases against Azerbaijan contradicts previous commitments to seeking accountability for war crimes, particularly during and after the 2020 war. These cases, filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), address the unlawful detention and abuse of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage and Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenian population.
Furthermore, Pashinyan’s suggestion that Armenia is willing to abandon efforts to raise conflict-related issues in its bilateral relations jeopardizes ongoing efforts in the U.S. Congress and legislatures worldwide to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. This includes ending the impunity Azerbaijan has been afforded for its war crimes through efforts to impose sanctions on Azerbaijani officials, to suspend U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, to ensure U.S. involvement in facilitating the release of Armenian hostages and to advocate for the right of Artsakh’s Armenians to return to their homes consistent with international law.
Pashinyan concluded: “So, our proposal is to end further discussions on the conflicting topics and to open a new era in bilateral relations, starting from a new and empty and clear page.”
By advocating for an “empty and clear page” in bilateral relations, Pashinyan appears to be abandoning legal mechanisms that hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions — undermining the rights of Armenian captives and displaced persons and conceding to Baku’s demand for impunity. Prime Minister Pashinyan’s comments at the Atlantic Council event, titled “A Conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,” echoed statements made last week in community meetings in Switzerland questioning the veracity of the Armenian Genocide — which were met with widespread condemnation.
Pashinyan’s comments yesterday were met with criticism across Armenia and the diaspora. Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said, “There can be no peace absent accountability — a reckoning with Azerbaijan’s crimes, the release of Armenian hostages, the removal of Azerbaijani forces from Armenia and the return of Armenians to Artsakh. Each unilateral concession by Pashinyan to Azerbaijan invariably leads to renewed Azerbaijani demands for yet more unilateral concessions — a relentless cycle of surrender that cedes ever more Armenian soil, security and sovereignty.”
International lawyer Karnig Kerkonian, Esq., emphasized the importance of Armenia’s international legal cases against Azerbaijan in securing the country’s “moral authority and sovereign agency.”
“Withdrawing these international cases will not bring peace — that much is certain. In fact, withdrawing the cases will only invite patent impunity from Azerbaijan, erasing hard-won legal victories that are publicly holding Azerbaijan to account. The prime minister has the whole thing upside down: these cases must not be sacrificed at the bilateral “negotiating” table—they must be the very foundation upon which a genuine and lasting peace is actually built,” Kerkonian said.
John Eibner, International President of Christian Solidarity International, echoed Kerkonian’s criticisms of the prime minister. “According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s strategy for achieving peace is to drop all efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its ethnic and religious cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh, its holding of political hostages and its military occupation of swathes of the Armenian borderlands. The result of this strategy is not likely to be peace — but further aggression,” Eibner said.
Ken Hachikian, chair of the Armenian Legal Center (ALC), affirmed that the ALC will “continue to work with its partners to pursue justice for Azerbaijan’s war crimes committed against the Armenian people.” He continued, “The Armenian Legal Center — advocates for the rule of law — believes that Azerbaijan should be held to account for its crimes, in the interest of justice for its victims and as a deterrent to the repetition of such crimes against Armenians or any innocent civilian population.”
Azerbaijan’s ongoing threats against Armenia, its occupation of sovereign Armenian territory, its recourse to hostage diplomacy, and demands for territorial concessions and changes to Armenia’s constitution undermine efforts to ensure a just, durable and dignified peace in the region that upholds the fundamental rights of Artsakh’s displaced Armenian population. In indicating his willingness to abandon international legal and political efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable, Prime Minister Pashinyan’s comments jeopardize critical efforts to ensure the release of Armenian hostages, protect Artsakh’s ancient at-risk Armenian heritage and uphold the fundamental right of return for Artsakh’s Armenians — in addition to undermining the security and sovereignty of Armenia in the face of Azerbaijan’s unabated aggression.
Guest Contributor
Supine, weak, treasonous.
So many examples of Pashinyan’s sheer stupidity.
Pashinyan is a puppet who is going to send Armenia to its grave.
This traitor Pashinyan disguised as prime minister indeed turned out to be the devil in disguise. Nothing is sacred to this psychopathic narcissist devoid of any sense of patriotism. Everything is transactional with a price tag and everyone is expendable. Shame on all those who voted him into office, not once but twice, someone who came to power with his fake “velvet revolution” that has benefitted NOT the Armenian nation but only our terrorist Turkish and pseudo-Turkish Azerbaijani enemies. Looking forward to his ouster and indictment as enemy agent!
Let’s not forget that Mr. Pashinyan represents the “democratic will” of the Armenian people. Armenia is now a “Westernized” country with “European” aspirations. Remember? Therefore, please show the duly-elected leader of Armenia some respect. Mr. Pashinyan is the Western-financed political activist and tabloid journalist a clear majority of our “people” (both in the homeland and in the diaspora) wanted to lead Armenia not only in 2018 but also in 2020, 2021 and 2023. If you naysayers believe in “democracy”, “westernization” and “the American way”, stop your constant complaining and start supporting Mr. Pashinyan in his historic mission, a mission he was given a democratic mandate for by the “people”.
PS: I would really like to see Russia cut-off all financial, economic and energy ties with Armenia (the only thing keeping the remote, landlocked and impoverished nation afloat) and take its troops stationed on Armenia’s border with Turkey (the only thing keeping NATO-member Turkey out of Armenia) back to Russia. Sometimes you just have to let a terminally ill patient die (ala Kevorkian)…
I will not lose sleep over Armenia’s ICJ compromise with Azerbaijan.
I quote, on February 22, 2023, “the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, ordered provisional measures to ensure that Azerbaijan ends the blockage of the Lachin Corridor.” But Lachin corridor remained close by the “environmentalists” and we know how Azeri choke hold ended.
I sure will not lose sleep if Armenia abandons ICJ whose March 17, 2023 arrest warrant o “Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes committed during his invasion of Ukraine.”, put Armenia in a precarious situation.
I did not think for a moment , nor do I believe that anything would be done for Armenia over an ICJ toothless ruling.
What happened to ICJ’s ruling over the assassination of Lebanese PM Hariri? Anyone …….