‘We Are Forced to Provide Certain Clarifications’: Abrahamyan on the Proposal Regarding the Death Penalty

Gor Abrahamyan, advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of Armenia, wrote on his Facebook page: “It was unexpected to discover, following the publication of the Chief Prosecutor's announcement regarding the establishment of constitutional and legal grounds for sentencing to death for state treason in special cases, that apparently, such a notion of state treason can have many defenders among us. However, it was not surprising that there could be an attempt to distort the essence of the proposal with foolish comments that are disconnected from reality and do not reflect the seriousness of the existing challenges, including a lack of understanding regarding Armenia’s international legal obligations.

In response to the ‘antitheses’ brought up in public discussions regarding the assertion that the presented proposal contradicts Armenia's commitments regarding the abolition of the death penalty upon becoming a member of the Council of Europe, we are forced to provide certain clarifications.

Armenia signed and ratified the 6th Additional Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on January 25, 2001, and September 29, 2003, respectively, where Article 1 states that CoE member states commit not to impose the death penalty on individuals under their jurisdiction. However, Article 2 of the same protocol establishes an exception that allows states to impose the death penalty for acts committed in the context of war or imminent threat of war.

Additionally, there is also the 13th Additional Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted in Vilnius on May 3, 2002, which under Article 1 binds CoE member states not to impose the death penalty under any circumstances on individuals under their jurisdiction. All member states of the CoE have signed and ratified this treaty except for Armenia, which signed it on May 19, 2006, but has not ratified it (Azerbaijan has not signed it at all).

This means that a straightforward combination of the aforementioned circumstances indicates that Armenia does not have a direct international legal obligation to establish an absolute ban on the death penalty. Therefore, all the speculations in this regard are inappropriate.

The topic is delicate. However, the expectation of the Prosecutor’s Office is that public discourse should be built in the spirit of healthy discussions, taking into account all arguments, including those related to the regional and state security threats surrounding Armenia in the context of the reasonable consideration of the cause-and-effect relationships concerning the increase of state treason cases and their notorious manifestations.