Lousineh Hakobyan, the President of Europe in Law Association Spoke at the Independence Forum

Lousineh Hakobyan, the President of Europe in Law Association and the Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform spoke at the Independence Forum convened upon the initiative of the Armenian National Platform of the EaP Civil Society Forum. She stressed the importance of the speedy ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which will enable protection of the citizens of Armenia from the gravest international crimes and make it possible for Armenia to join the international efforts of prevention and punishment of such crimes. She also called on the lawyers in Armenia and the diaspora to pursue international criminal liability of the political and military leadership of Azerbaijan. She then emphasized the importance of joint efforts by the political forces and civil society in the protection of the rights of the Armenians from Nagorno Karabagh guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and other relevant international instruments, including their right to property. Finally, she called on the authorities to speedily implement the CEPA provisions, which will enable Armenia to aspire for closer relations with the European Union and to openly declare about their ambitions to ultimately become a member of the EU. The representatives of the political forces and civil society having struggled for the independence, democracy and sovereignty of Armenia participated in the Independence Forum.