Armenia Citizens Should Stop Serving in Nagorno-Karabakh: Human Rights Defender

Human rights defender Mikayel Danielyan calls the situation in Armenia’s armed forces torture and inhuman treatment. Human rights defenders recorded a significant increase of non-combat deaths in the Armenian army last year, which is reflected in the 2010 report by the Helsinki Association for Human Rights.

Presenting the report today, Helsinki Association President Mikayel Danielyan outlined the important issues prevalent in the country’s armed forces. Republic of Armenia citizens, said Danielyan, serve in Nagorno-Karabakh and this practice must be stopped.

In Danielyan’s opinion, it’s easier to hide incidents of persecution of soldiers in Karabakh. The Helsinki Association report further notes that it’s extremely difficult to find out about incidents that take place in the army.

“Remaining a closed system, the RA Armed Forces tries in every way to conceal the number of soldiers dead from torture and cruel treatment in the army. The main cause of death is explained to be suicide, unfortunate accidents and death from enemy [fire],” said the authors of the report.