Epress.am News from Armenia
Helsink Association for Human Rights President Mikhaeil Danielyan told Epress.am Wednesday that he is surprised local human rights organizations asked him to sign their statement on the situation in the Armenian army, particularly drawing attention to hazing, abuse, suicides and non-combat deaths in recent years.
Prior to drawing up the statement, these organizations “never convinced him” to join any other human rights campaigns, not to mention the fact that they never joined the campaigns he initiated — which related to a specific issue in the Armenian army, that of citizens of Armenia serving in the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Danielyan notes that he refused to add his name to the statement, of which Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center Chair Sona Ayvazyan, Hope NGO representative Lala Aslikyan and Asparez Journalists’ Club President Levon Barseghyan informed him.
The human rights campaigner asked that the following be added to their joint statement: The practice of “Armenia citizens serving in Nagorno-Karabakh and occupied territories has to be prohibited.”
“This has to be raised in the legal arena. For example, if Armenia recognizes NKR’s independence and signs an agreement on military assistance, then that time Armenia citizens can serve in Nagorno-Karabakh on legal grounds, but now they are deprived of rights which is why they are not protected,” he said.
Danielyan was also in disagreement with his colleagues on one other aspect of the statement, that in which the human rights activists are ready to demand the resignation of Supreme Commander of RA Armed Forces, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
“Serzh Sargsyan has been the prime minister, defense minister — there were problems during his days too, though perhaps they didn’t receive as much of an outcry. So, he could’ve resolved these issues a long time ago. But now, by demanding such a thing, human rights campaigners have cornered themselves,” he said.
As is already apparent, Danielyan’s suggestions to the statement were not incorporated, which is why he opted not to sign his name.
The Helsinki Association President emphasized the importance of Thursday’s open letter from the mothers of killed soldiers to defense minister Seyran Ohanyan. In the letter, the parents ask, “Mr. Minister, please respond, which law defines the military service of Republic of Armenia citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh?”
“It turns out that the mothers of dead soldiers are more of a human rights defender than presidents of human rights organizations,” Danielyan summed up.