Under the Perfectly Wrong and Condemnable Agenda of Territorial Surrender, Azerbaijani Armed Forces Approach Our Villages: Arman Tatoyan

Under the perfectly wrong and condemnable agenda of territorial surrender, Azerbaijani armed forces are approaching our villages. This statement was made on Facebook by the former Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan.

"Today, the Ministry of Justice made a shameful and highly condemnable statement regarding the legal grounds and activities of the commission related to demarcation and border security. They made a failed attempt to 'justify' and legally obscure the politically unacceptable decisions of the Government and its leader. The activities of this commission, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, contradict the foundations of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and the international obligations of Armenia. It was formally created and operates under an individual legal act, referencing general procedural norms. Neither the Government nor its leader has such authority.

The Ministry of Justice justifies the 'mandate' of the commission by its name, later stating that the name of the commission indicates that it has received this mandate from the Government and its leader. Such justification is not only improbable but also impossible within the framework of law, as it cannot be the case that a commission of dubious origin is named and, based solely on that name (without specifying specific powers), the status of that commission is determined. In particular, no act states what the powers of this commission or its members are, what decisions it makes, on what specific issues, and so on.

It is not permissible to practically have an operational body without a legal foundation and without a specific status, merely relying on the fact that this body has a name and deriving powers from that name. According to the Government's logic, it turns out that if you want to judge people for violations of the law, you only need to create some body, name it 'court,' and that is enough for that body to start judging people, with no need at all to define specific powers, issues, decision-making processes, and so on. This is a fundamentally contradictory logic to the rule of law and opposed to the foundations of the Constitution.

On behalf of this commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disseminates a statement that leads to seriously negative specific consequences for the security of the Republic of Armenia, grossly violating the rights of border residents and, in general, the population of the Republic of Armenia (rights to life, freedom of movement, ownership, and others).

The absolutely illegal nature of the Ministry of Justice's statement is also evidenced by the fact that according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated April 19, 2024, agreements were reached to finalize the work for the coordination of the regulations on the joint activities of the commission on demarcation and border security between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia by July 1, 2024. This means that this commission, without even having regulations, is already functioning and making statements that grossly violate human rights and compromise the security of Armenia.

All of these arguments are null and void, and the failed attempt to justify politically unacceptable decisions is further substantiated by statements from the Government's leadership and various officials that demarcation has not yet started, and that it will commence after the resolutions planned in Tavush. Furthermore, a natural question arises: if demarcation has not yet started, how can the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue a statement on behalf of this commission, implying that what is happening in Tavush is a result of the work of this commission, if that commission deals with demarcation, that is, issues that are supposed to follow the border resolutions in Tavush?

Under the perfectly wrong and condemnable public [political] agenda of territorial surrender, Azerbaijani armed officials are approaching our villages, and the government is making statements that recognize Azerbaijan's jurisdiction," Tatoyan wrote.