David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
On May 15th in a military base in the Tavush region of Armenia, Private Luks Stepanyan was killed by a fellow soldier. The law-enforcement agencies initiated a preliminary investigation. This information was presented by the Defense Ministry. However, this time not only society, but also all power structures began to discuss the murder of a soldier.
Parents of the deceived Private received attention from the authorities only after they had claimed that would bring the body of their son to the House of Government and organize a protest of mothers who had lost their sons in peaceful time.
The Sevan highway leading to Yerevan was blocked by the traffic police, and a fight began. As the result a police car was damaged, hundreds of people who accompanied the relatives were involved in a fight against policemen and the Defense Ministry employees. Only the head of the Armenian police Vladimir Gasparyan and the Defense Minister Seiran Oganyan who came to the scene could calm down the relatives of the Private.
David Khachatryan, who is accused of the murder, was arrested only on May 18th, after the unprecedented protest in Armenia took place. Before this the murderer was free, and they say he told everybody that “nobody would do anything to him.”
Thus, we can say that justice in the Armenian Military Forces, as well as in the republic in general, has a selective character and often is achieved only by pressure. The situation in the army reflects the general situation in the country. Deaths of young people in army are possible due to sense of impunity. It appears due to the fact that this or that young man is a relative of this or that official, minister, or general. In the country where citizens have no basic right for voting which is substituted by huge financial, administrative resources, falsifications, violence, pressing, bribery, other violations – a murder of a young man doesn’t seem extraordinary. Due to all these phenomena poverty and emigration are growing in the country year by year.
According to Armenian NGO in 2011 39 deaths were registered in the Armenian Military Forces; only 10 people were killed by enemies. In 2012 there were 48 deaths in the army, only 12 people were killed by enemies.
To understand the connection between the army and the outrage in the Armenian society, we should analyze the unofficial structure of the Armenian Military Forces. The generalship includes majorly wealthy businessmen, rentiers, and owners of vast farms. These misters turned the army into a legal way of servicing their clan interests. Generals pay for it to the leadership by involvement of the army in social life spheres, for example, elections or suppression of protests after elections.
Of course, the Military Forces have generals who think the army is a stronghold of the country, but there are few of them. Answering the social criticism, the authorities dismissed the most outrageous generals for various reasons. However, the situation hasn’t changed.
The army headed by such generals is a structure where Soviet morals dominate, which are improved by ambitions of former field commanders. The medium and minor level of command is outside the system of army management, despite the fact that middle rank officers have the heaviest responsibility in the army.
