Ministry of Defense had set a Goal to Provide Numbers in the Army, Artur Sakunts

Today Sakunts, Head of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, spoke about corruption and provision of human rights protection in the army within the frames of the discussion “Situation in the Armenian Army”.

Sakunts noted that human rights are being violated in the army, including call-up process, military service and even demobilization. He also stated that today the MoD has set a goal to provide numbers in the army. “Today there is a program with a special focus to provide adequate number of servicemen and not ensure a complete military service. Here there are grounds to be concerned, and it is clear there is a lack of human rights protection starting from the call-up procedure.”

The human rights activist noted that the legal norms have no great significance and do not function in the army, due to which, the representatives of civil society find that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief must declare what has been done so far instead of what should be done. Sakunts stated they are not able to collect necessary specific information regarding the death cases in the army and the objectivity of preliminary investigation. By his words, both the accusing and the aggrieved parties complain of the preliminary investigation procedure.

Speaking about corruption phenomena in the army, Sakunts pointed out they mostly occur due to abuse of power. Sakunts recommended creating a position of a Military Ombudsman as soon as possible. “It is already a vital problem; the Military Ombudsman must be a serious structure to work under the direct supervision of civil organizations.”

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