Ara Papian: international law is not up for auction in 21st century

July 23, 2010 - 12:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the Modus Vivendi Centre Ara Papian said that it was absolutely within the law for the highest tribunal of the United Nations – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – to conclude on the 22nd of July, 2010, that “the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate international law.

It was within the law first of all because the right to direct one’s own political affairs, through the establishment of self-determination, is included in the UN Charter [Article 1(2)] as one of the main goals of the organization, Papian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

It is also within the law as there is no limitation set on declaring independence in international law. That is to say, international law does not consist of any criterion by which the right to independence is reserved for, say, Serbs, Georgians or Caucasian Tatars, but that very right is denied to Albanians, Megrelians or the Talysh.

“Naturally, declarations of independence are always unilateral. When, for example, the United States and the Russian Federation declared their independence from the British Empire and the USSR respectively, they did so without, as it were, approval by “the central authorities”. It is another matter whether “the central authorities” calmly come to terms with the fact, without unnecessary military frustrations, or whether they try to drown the will of others in blood,” said Papian.

He added that this decision by the International Court of Justice of the UN is encouraging in terms of the developments of democratization of international law. The decision demonstrated that the segregation of peoples as accepted and rejected is inconsistent with the thinking of the twenty first century.

The decision is encouraging when it comes to a democratic solution to the Karabakh conflict as well. That is, just as no one has the right to make decisions in place of an individual in a democratic society, similarly in current international relations, no one has the right to make decisions in place of the organized public of such individuals.

“International law is not up for auction in the 21st century. International law is not for sale as an oil derrick,” concluded Papian.

On July 22, the International Court of Justice said that Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.