US State Department's Response to Armenia's Ratification of the Rome Statute

The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Vedant Patel, responding to a question regarding Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute, stated through the Voice of America: "We respect Armenia's sovereignty and independence and will allow the Armenian government to interpret its legislative processes on its own. Of course, we respect the right of any country to join the International Criminal Court, and we are encouraged by the example set by many countries, including Armenia, that have taken on commitments to promote justice and accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity."