News - Siranush Sahakyan: Hard to convince international organizations to pressure Azerbaijan on Armenian captives’ matter

In case of serious political support, Azerbaijan should be pressured with the tools of sanctions. Lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, Head of the "Center for International and Comparative Law" NGO, stated during a discussion at the American University of Armenia—and in response to the question about the chances of the returning of the Armenian captives who are being illegally held in Azerbaijani prisons. "Of course, in this regard, human rights advocates carry out their activities, they collaborate with the competent organizations of the European Union, the US. But it is very difficult to convince international organizations to apply measures against the leadership of Azerbaijan in the case when the Republic of Armenia, as a state, does not assist these efforts and does not express its political support to the organization or state that is ready to use this toolkit of its for the benefit of Armenians. Therefore, the theoretical possibility exists, but, I believe the political prerequisites for its application are weak. The legal bases are very clear, and we have done and are doing work in this regard, and we have officially submitted applications to the European Union, and in the near future we will initiate a formal process in the USA also," Sahakyan noted. According to her, the International Criminal Court can also pose a certain threat to Azerbaijan. But if Armenia talks about the possibility of withdrawing its current interstate lawsuits, which are only about the international accountability of Azerbaijan, it is very unlikely that under such conditions Armenia will refer the situation to the International Criminal Court, and there it will raise the individual criminal accountability of the Azerbaijani political and military leadership sitting in negotiations with him from the point of view of mere pressure, which can also lead to the solution of the issue of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. "Of course, in the case of the International Criminal Court, there are also issues related to which cases can actually be tried in a given court. Not all war crimes or crimes against humanity can be considered by the International Criminal Court. But we believe that in our case, the facts are strong and can serve as a basis for operating the ‘heavy machinery’ of the International Criminal Court," the law specialist thinks.