Armenian army ceases to be "sacred cow"

The atmosphere in the Armenian army and the relationships within the military have always been the focus of attention of Armenian society. However, in most cases information about the deficiencies of the Armenian army was not the subject of open public discussion. According to well-established tradition in Armenian society, the army, as a "sacred cow", has always been beyond criticism.

Meanwhile, over the last five months criticism of the army has gone beyond the permissible limits, and incidences of this have gained wide publicity. In recent months 10 non-combat losses have been recorded in the Armenian army.

At the centre of public attention was the tragic death on duty of a 31-year old officer-contractor, Artak Nazarian, the deaths of Sergeants Armand Avakian and Ashot Hovhannisyan from beatings and the mysterious suicide of Samvel Khachatryan, whose body was found hanged, showing signs of beatings. Many people have watched footage taken by a camera phone and posted on September 11 on YouTube under the title “The true face of our army”, in which two soldiers were subjected to pressure, beatings and humiliations by a man stripped to the waist, later identified as the deputy commander of the battalion, Major Sasun Galsyan. He has been arrested and accused of abuse of his official position and abuse of power.

Referring to unofficial data, including those provided by the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, the Deputy Chief of the Legal Department of Defence Office Policy, Alexander Avetisyan, has a tendency to underestimate the number of fatalities. In 1995 the number of combat and non-combat losses amounted to 324 persons, then in 1998 to 171, in 2002 to 62 and in 2004 to 38. However, the Adviser to the Minister of Defence, the Chairman of the Public Commission for soldiers at the Defence Ministry, Gegham Harutyunyan, considers it necessary to continue measures aimed at reducing the number of victims. According to human rights activist Arthur Sakunts, this year 31 soldiers have been killed, only 8 of them from sniper shots, the rest from hazing.

The authorities tend to conceal military crimes. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan recently accused the authors of the publications of discrediting the national army.

Due to the huge wave of public protest, the Armenian National Assembly has recently amended the “Code of Discipline of the Armed Forces”. Under the amendments, soldiers have the right to appeal against any orders from their immediate commanders that contradict the Constitution and laws of the country, or which are beyond their authority.

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusively for "Vestnik Kavkaza."