Epress.am News from Armenia
The parents of five soldiers who died in the Armenian army in non-combat conditions have addressed multiple letters to the RA President, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Armenian Human Rights Defender, as well as several parliamentary committees, asking them to create a temporary working committee to deal with their sons' cases.
The group of parents have been staging weekly protests in front of the RA Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, and RA Government building for years demanding fair investigation into their sons' deaths: the real circumstances of their sons' deaths, the parents claim, have still not been discovered, perpetrators have not been punished.
After years of futile protests, the parents have been heartened by the response from the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovhannes Sahakyan: “The interpellations brought on by you are priority problems of utmost importance, therefore, [the Committee on State and Legal Affairs] will take necessary legal measures to discuss them.”
Anahit Mkrtchyan, mother of Arayik Avetisyan [ARM] who died in the army in 2001, told Epress.am that Sahakyan's response did not specify whether a working committee would be created; however, as stated by Mkrtchyan, the willingness to consider the issue is still encouraging.
In response to the parents' letter to the head of state, the presidential staff informed that the issue has been directed to the National Assembly, since creation of committees is within the range of powers of the parliament. The parents' appeal, officials said, has been sent to the National Assembly Chief of Staff Hrayr Tovmasyan.