Quarterly Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Armenian Armed Forces/ Vol.8
April – June 2018
Peace Dialogue is presenting the current issue of its quarterly report on the conditions of Human Rights in the RA Military Forces. Peace Dialogue is an Armenian non-governmental organization active in peace building, democracy and human rights. One of the main spheres of its activities is the monitoring of human rights violations in the RA Armed Forces.In pursuit of justice and initiation of public debate on current issues in the Armenian Armed Forces, Peace Dialogue seeks relevant solutions and the promotion of those solutions by presenting them to the Armenian authorities and relevant international actors.
Definition of Reasonable Time-frame for the Provision of Compulsory Medical Documentation within the scope of the National Human Rights Strategy
The Housing Queues of the Officers are Still Preserved
The List of Conditions and Limitations Restricting the Level of Suitability for Military Service is Available
Statistics of Fatalities in the Armenian Army in the First Quarter of 2018
Information Related to the Preliminary Investigation on the Death of Soldier David Terteryan
Information on the Case of the Death of Soldiers Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan
Information on the Lawsuit on the Death of Soldier Manuchar Manucharyan
Update on the lawsuit of the death of Private Harutyun Hambaryan
Information on the Lawsuit of the Soldier Levon Torosyan’s Death Case
Introduction: Velvet Revolution
Following on the previous report for the first quarter of 2018, the socio-political situation in Armenia underwent significant changes due to the revolution, which broke out in the months of April and May and ended with a change of government.
Urged by the initiative of Nikol Pashinyan, lawmaker and head of the parliamentary Fraction “Yelk”, the number of participants in the non-violent demonstrations of mass civil disobedience in different cities and villages of Armenia reached over hundreds of thousands. Concerned with the events taking place in Armenia, many diaspora communities also carried out continuous demonstrations. As a consequence, on April 23, Serj Sargsyan, the standing Prime Minister after two presidential terms, resigned from his post. Under public pressure, Nikol Pashinyan was elected as the new Prime Minister by the Armenian Parliament. It was quite encouraging that immediately after assuming office, Pashinyan announced his intention of a “ruthless struggle against any manifestations of corruption or injustice.”
Of course, it is still too early to draw conclusions about the absolute victory of the revolution. Despite new appointments in a number of posts formerly occupied by officials associated with corruption (State Revenue Committee, Ministry of Science and Education, Ministry of Defense, Police, and others), a number of key positions, such as the RA Prosecutor General, are still held by representatives of the former regime. Davit Tonoyan, the former First Deputy Minister of Defense (2010-2016) and former RA Minister of Emergency Situations, was appointed as the RA Defense Minister.
The snap parliamentary elections are ahead, which will determine the final outcome of the revolution. According to the new government program, the snap parliamentary elections must be held within the period of one year.
Government Program
Photo: Nikol Pashinyan presents the New Government Program.
The newly formed government presented its program to the National Assembly, which was approved by a majority vote on June 7. A key argument against the program was that it bore a resemblance to a wish list with zero measurability. During the Parliamentary session on the government project, Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated that an action plan to clarify the terms of implementation and the measurability of their outcomes was under development and would soon be presented.
The main priority of the program deals with the preparation and implementation of snap parliamentary elections following the Electoral Code Reform, which hopes to ensure political power centred on the free expression of public will. Significant references to issues concerning armed forces were also made.
As stated in the program, “The most important instrument in boosting combat efficiency and effectiveness of the Armed Forces is the radical change of the atmosphere and approaches set for army building and military service. Each commander must realize their responsibility for the life and security of the conscripts entrusted to them”.
The new government program also touches upon the issue of human rights in the armed forces. The issues requiring priority are the quality and efficiency of personnel activities to increase morale and psychological readiness, ensure the protection of human rights in the Armed Forces, decrease the non-formal relationships, the denigration of military servicemen’s dignity, and cases of self-injury or suicide resulting from them. A vital factor assisting in the realization of these purposes is the availability of continual education for the conscripts within the whole term of their military service. “Raising the soldiers’ level of education and their intellectual growth must be an important direction in the Armed Forces development strategy”.
With its new program, the Government undertakes the responsibility of adequate and complete material provision in order to prevent the need for parents’ participation in this process. It assures that the protection of private rank soldiers’ human rights, the logistics, material, and medical provisions are a central issue for military authorities and must remain the focus of public attention.
Concept Review
According to the previous government, the main element in provision of security in Republic of Armenia was the “Nation-Army” concept with its satellite programs and concepts (such as the military and patriotic education of students). We have already mentioned in the previous reports that initially the key issues of human rights protection and improvement of democratization in Armenia have not been regarded as a priority in the development of the security sector. On the basis of public confidence, the protection of the rights and dignity of servicemen have taken a back seat to the promulgation of patriotism through public propaganda. Moreover, according to our studies, nothing was initiated regarding the reduction of corruption or social injustice, creating a safe and sound atmosphere for military service in the Armed Forces (the developed concepts and laws did not map out anything in this regard). Rising from the priorities of the new Government Program, which is focused on fighting corruption and improving human rights conditions in the Army, it appears that the new government will not be satisfied with the development of military and patriotic spirit in the defense sector.
The Concept of Military-Patriotic Upbringing Has Been Suspended
In the present report, we had decided to make a reference to the “Military-Patriotic Upbringing of Students.”Arayik Harutyunyan, the newly appointed Minister of Education and Science suspended this, in the opinion of many, dubious (essentially nationalistic) project developed and put into circulation by the Ministry of Education and Science. “We have withdrawn the Concept of military-patriotic upbringing for further discussion”, on June 5, the Minister mentioned at the joint session of the Standing Committees at RA National Assembly for science, education, culture, youth and sports, financial, credit, and budget issues. It was created to allocate tens of millions of dollars from the budget to support the concept of military-patriotic upbringing, under which, as claimed by the Minister, no specific program was implied. According to Minister of Education and Science, the concept will be raised following the discussions on the 2020-2030 concept program of the education sector.
What Will Happen to the Nation-Army Concept?
Davit Tonoyan
Defence Minister of Armenia
“As to me, there is no significant importance what kind of political package it will receive, whether it will be called “Nation-Army” or anything else. The most important is the content, the issue that we have to resolve by means of a pan-national consideration”, announced the RA Minister of Defense (MoD) Davit Tonoyan. He assured that the programs which have a long-term nature and are targeting army-building activities must be carried on, irrespective of the change of the head of the defense structure.
According to the Minister Davit Tonoyan, the programs “Yes Sir” («Ես եմ») and “I Have the Honor” («Պատիվ ունեմ») launched by his predecessor, Vigen Sargsyan, within the framework of the “Nation-Army” concept will continue, as relevant to military service.
The minister does not see any basis for the abolition of the “1000 drams” law either. (AN: Each month, 1000 AMD (US$2.50) is automatically withheld from the salary of every working person in Armenia for compensation payments to families of military personnel killed in action and those seriously wounded or suffering disabilities.)
“We are dealing with a number of factors independent of us: these are objective realities which we cannot ignore. Particularly, we have the Karabakh conflict with decade-long ongoing political negotiations on the one hand, and a direct military threat, on the other. This situation does not leave us an alternative to keeping and developing a large number of armed forces, maintaining a mandatory term service, providing substantial financial resources for the defense sector, and so on. It is a great deal of burden for both the state and the society. Hence, our objective is to encourage the society to fully trust the army and be sure that every measure is taken for
a. ensuring the necessary combat readiness of the Armed Forces for enduring all types of threats,
b. maximally efficient and targeted use of the resources allocated by the Ministry.
These objectives may not be achieved without the reinforcement of army-society links, enhancement of transparency and accountability, immediate participation of a number of social sectors in army building activities, introduction of education and science into the military, and so on.”
In this context, it is hard to imagine what specific changes the “Nation-Army” concept will undergo, taking into account the fact that in response to the PD query on the aforementioned concept, Nikol Pashinyan, at that time still lawmaker and president of the parliamentary Fraction “Yelk”, expressedhis concern about corruption risks deriving from the concept and the laws generated within its framework. He expressed conviction that some manifestations of the “Nation-Army” concept “…result in the disproportionate growth of militarization in Armenia, which in the long run, may be disadvantageous to the democratization process by transforming the army into a tool for solving internal problems”. He rated insufficient the involvement of different groups of civil society in the process of the concept’s implementation, and considered it a significant flaw in terms of public control over the activities of the RA Armed Forces.
To all appearances, all the concerns expressed by Nikol Pashinyan have, in one way or another, been reflected in the new Government Program. It remains to be seen what solutions the new Government will consider within the context of increasing the transparency of the MoD activities, and protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Definition of Reasonable Time-frame for the Provision of Compulsory Medical Documentation within the scope of the National Human Rights Strategy
PD is monitoring the 2017-2019 Action Plan deriving from the National Human Rights Protection Strategy. The provisions of the latter provide revision criteria for the performance of the action, with actual deadlines set for the activities. After the termination of the first quarter of the current year, the deadlines for the expected outcomes of the actions provided for in several paragraphs were already coming to an end. Below we present the relevant queries and responses of the appropriate authority bodies.
The 28th and 29th paragraphs of the 2017-2019 Action Plan deriving from the National Human Rights Protection Strategy envisage the development of mechanisms for conscripts to ensure the mandatory provision of their medical examination report and establishing reasonable time-frame for providing documents for early demobilization on the basis of health issues. These documents will adequately state the reasons for early demobilization. The submission of a legal act draft to the RA Government has been considered a revising criterion for the implementation of the activities. The RA MoD and Health Ministry are mentioned as responsible for the actions. By means of respective queries, we asked the relevant authorities to provide the following information:
Is there a relevant legal act draft available, which defines the provision procedure of relevant decisions of medical and military medical commissions, as well as the mandatory provision of medical examination results by medical institutions; and establishes reasonable time-frame for delivering documents on early demobilization based on health grounds, clearly stating the reasons for early demobilization?
What mechanisms have been envisaged for the mandatory provision of medical examination conclusion reports to the conscripts?
Have the time-frames for the mandatory provision of decisions concerning the conscripts and their medical examination conclusion reports by medical institutions been set within the scope of the legal act concerned?
If yes, what time-frame has been set for the mandatory provision of the mentioned documents?
In response to the mentioned query, Nelson Zuloyan, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Health, informed that the relevant body responsible for the aforementioned questions is the RA MoD, and in order to receive the required information, the questions should be addressed to them.
First Class State Counselor G. Hayrapetyan, Chief of Staff of the MoD, mentions in his response that the issue is regulated by the Article 17 (Part 5), Article 29 (Part 3) of the Law on the Status of Military Service and the Conscript, as well as by the Government decision 405-N of April 12, 2018.
The thorough examination of the law mentioned by the MoD and the legal act did not reveal any point which would define the time-frame for the provision of medical documentation to military servicemen for their early demobilization on the ground of health issues. Instead, the issue is regulated by the Article 25 (The bodies responsible for the organization of compulsory military conscription) Part 6 of the Law on the Status of Military Servicemen and the Military:
“The decisions (provided conclusions) by Republican or Regional (or Yerevan City) Conscription Commissions as well as relevant Medical Commissions and Military Commissariats (military commissars) are transferred to the citizen or his legal representative within three days after their establishment. The decisions of Republican Conscription Commissions may be appealed to the court or to the RA Minister of Defense within two months after their establishment in a manner prescribed by law”.
Thus, it may be concluded from the MoD’s response that this provision, prescribed by the national strategy for human rights protection is considered to be implemented by the adoption of the Law on the Status of Military Servicemen and Military. Although the mentioned law sets a (3) three-day time-frame for the provision of decisions (provided conclusions) by Conscription Commissions as well as relevant Medical Commissions and Military Commissariats (military commissars) to citizens or their legal representatives, however, there is no reference to the mandatory provision of the mentioned documents.
The Housing Queues of the Officers are Still Preserved
As per Article 65 Part 2 of the RA “Law on the Status of Military Servicemen and the Military”, in the manner and terms defined by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, in order to acquire an apartment or a dwelling house or build a dwelling house, contractual military officers may have access to state targeted mortgage lending programs on privileged terms and a long-term basis. The new program envisages the acquisition of the house/apartment by the officer by means of paying the principal sum within 20 years while the interest will be subsided by the state and with the return of the income tax will be equalled to zero. The officer assumes the obligation of 20 years of compulsory service in return for the proposed conditions.
The special housing program, which radically differs from the mortgage programs implemented so far, raises a number of questions. Particularly, for many years, thousands of military officers are waiting for their turn to get an apartment (according to the statement of former Minister of Defense, Vigen Sargsyan, during the Parliamentary session on “New legal regulations on conscription and military service”, “…a huge list has been formed”), and cannot assume the obligation of 20 more years of military service.
In its query to the Mod, PD asked to clarify what is awaiting the military servicemen already enlisted in the line for the acquisition of apartments, whether or not their issue of housing is going to be resolved, and how. Another important question regarding this program also needs clarification: what regulations are envisaged if, for instance, the officer assumes the obligation of 20 years of military service but is medically discharged, implementation of the penalty “dismissal from military service”, or any other grounding?
On the report of the MoD, for military servicemen registered in need of improved housing conditions during their military service but not having received an apartment/house with their property right as of the effective date of Article 65, the right of receiving an apartment at the expense of the state budget is maintained. However, the mentioned military servicemen may abandon this right and make use of the target program provided for in Article 65 Part 2 of the aforementioned law.
As regards the other issues raised by PD, the MoDinformed that the targeted state support program “Accessible Housing for Military Officers” is currently under development. It will be presented for Government discussion after agreeing and processing with all interested departments. The legal acts deriving from the “Law on the Status of Military Servicemen and the Military” shall enter into force within six months after the implementation of this Law, so respective clarifications to the aforementioned questions in the framework of the defined provisions may be presented only after the adoption of relevant legal acts within the time-frame prescribed by law.
The List of Conditions and Limitations Restricting the Level of Suitability for Military Service is Available
In our previous reports, we have repeatedly referred to the ambiguity of the designation of the definition “Suitable for military service with restrictions.” We expressed our concern that both the acting law and the new draft law lack precision on how the soldiers, who have been conscripted to military with some restrictions, can get acquainted with the conditions of military service contradicting to their health, or what kind of limitations in the military service are provided for them based on their health conditions. The aforementioned information could only be communicated to soldiers conscripted to military service with restrictions by the command of the military unit.
The following information may be found in the Annex attached to the Decision:
the list of maladies defining the citizens’ or soldiers’ level of suitability for military service;
the military conditions contradicting to the citizens’ or soldiers’ state of health in terms of characteristics of military service restrictions and physical exercises not permitted during military service to those included in the columns 1 and 3 in the list of maladies defining the level of suitability for military service.
Statistics of Fatalities in the Armenian Army
in the First Quarter of 2018
Click to zoom in
In the first quarter of 2018, 24 (twenty-four) cases of fatality in the RA Armed Forces and the NK Defense Army have been reported to “Peace Dialogue” NGO. 8 (eight) cases have been registered in the territory of RA and 16 (sixteen) cases were registered in the territory of NK.
During the period of reporting, 2 (two) cases of murder and 4 (four) cases of suicide have been registered. 5 (five) fatalities were caused by the violation of ceasefire regime, 7 (seven) were casualty cases, 2 (two) cases were the result of the violation of safety rules, and one case was caused by health problems. In 3 (three) of the cases the cause of the death of the military servicemen is still unknown.
It should be stated that the causes of death are presented in accordance with the causes mentioned in the official outlets, although it is highly possible that in at least one of the cases, that of Levon Torosyan, the real cause of death does not correspond to that of the official version.
In response to PD’s query, the RA MoD stated that there were 9 (nine) fatalities registered in the RA Armed Forces and the NK Defense Army in the first quarter of 2018; whereas according to the data of PD, 11 such cases were recorded in the mentioned period. PD will try to shed light on the mentioned discrepancy by sending another query to the RA MoD.
Information Related to the Preliminary Investigation on the Death of Soldier David Terteryan
According to the RA Investigative Committee’s statement, on February 18, 2016, at approximately 1:00 p.m. in the combat post under the supervision of military unit N, Private Davit Terteryan’s body was found with a mortal gunshot wound to the frontal part of the head.
After the preliminary examination of the scene and the body, a criminal case for driving to suicide was filed in the first Garrison investigation department. The aggrieved party does not agree with the suicide version, and based on a number of objective reasons, claims that a murder was committed; whereas the preliminary investigation body is trying to conceal the alleged murder. In our previous report we have referred to the alleged illegalities committed during the preliminary investigation and the discrepancies in the investigation materials found by the representative of the victim’s legal successor, criminalist Ruben Martirosyan, expert of “Peace Dialogue” NGO.
The preliminary investigation on this case is allegedly continuing. In reality, no step in the direction of disclosing the intentional murder has been taken, which lets us conclude that no investigation is being held. The representative of the victim’s legal successor Ruben Martirosyan has filed another objection to the investigator and the Military Investigation Department.
On 17 May, 2018, the victim side filed a complaint to the RA PM Nikol Pashinyan.
Information on the Case of the Death of Soldiers Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan
According to the preliminary investigation body, on April 6, 2016, based on the phone call made by the Vardenis Military Police of the RA MOD Sevan Garrison to the 5th Garrison Investigation Department of the General Investigation Department of the RA Investigation Committee, on the night of April 5-6, at approximately 02:30-03:00 a.m., under unclear circumstances, in the artillery firing position of the MOD 75937 military unit compulsory military servicemen of the MOD 28418 military unit, Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan died of injuries resulting from gunshot wounds, and term servicemen Hakob Gevorgyan and Areg Baghdasaryan received lower limb gunshot injuries.
After illegally and artificially separating these two murders committed by the same group of perpetrators in the same period of time, the Preliminary Investigation Body essentially did not and could not conduct any investigation on the murder of Suren Aramyan, since the corrupt Investigation body is not interested in revealing the murder. Ruben Martirosyan, the representative of the victim’s legal successor, once again appealed to the RA Prosecutor General and filed an objection to the Preliminary Investigation Body investigating the case. Whereas investigation on the part of Grigor Avetisyan is underway in the Gegharkunik Region Court of First Instance presided over by Judge Vahagn Melikyan. Although within 4 months the victim side has presented two mediations to the presiding judge, so far the latter has not taken the petition under examination, violating the procedure for resolving the petitions provided by the RA Criminal Procedure Code.
It should be mentioned once more, that according to the victim’s legal successors, instead of the real perpetrators in this case Davit Dumikyan is illegally accused of killing Grigor Avetisyan; while he has no connection to the murder whatsoever.
On 17 May, 2018, the victim side filed a complaint to the RA PM Nikol Pashinyan.
Information on the Lawsuit on the Death of Soldier Manuchar Manucharyan
According to the statement by the Ministry of Defense, on July 31, 2013, at approximately 1:20 p.m. while being on the checkpoint watchtower of the Kanaker military unit, private Manuchar Manucharyan caused a deadly gunshot wound to himself with his AKS-74 self-propelled rifle.
A criminal case has been filed on the fact in the RA MOD Investigation Service as per Article 110 part 1 (driving a person to suicide) of the RA Criminal Code.
In PD opinion, both Artur Mkrtchyan, Judge of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan, and the Judicial staff of the Criminal Cassation Court under the presidency of Judge Narine Hovakimyan, have committed a number of violations ofthe law. Particularly, they violated the principle of equal rights of the parties in the proceedings provided by the RA Criminal Procedure Code, as well as Article 102 on the mandatory nature of investigation for petitions and claims provided by the RA Criminal Procedure Code.
PD believes that both courts have violated the Article 6 of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the right of a fair trial. Equally, no effective investigation has been conducted to clarify the cause and the circumstances of death and to bring the perpetrators to justice, which directly leads to the violation of the rights provided for in Article 2 of the ECHR.
Currently the case is in the proceedings of the Cassation Court. The victim side is preparing to appeal to the RA Ministry of Justice with the mediation for filing disciplinary proceedings against the aforementioned judges.
On 17 May, 2018, the victim side filed a complaint to the RA PM Nikol Pashinyan, asking for his mediation in the rapid disclosure of Manuchar Manucharyan’s murder case and bringing the perpetrators to justice. The response to the application, it was sent to the RA Prosecutor General.
Update on the lawsuit of the death of Private Harutyun Hambaryan
A criminal case on the death of military serviceman Harutyun Hambaryan has been filed in the 3rd Garrison Investigation Department of the General Military Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee.
On May 8, 2015, at approximately 03:15 p.m. according to preliminary information, Private Harutyun Hambaryan, military serviceman in the MOD N military unit, died as a result of the gunshot on the front part of his head from his self-propelled AKMS machine gun.
The examination on this case is being held by the Syunik Marz Court of First Instance, presided by Judge Davit Sargsyan. The victim side filed a complaint to Judge Sargsyan, pointing all the violations and infringements that had been committed during the preliminary investigation. Evidence was also presented substantiating the deliberate murder; yet the preliminary investigation body has presented the case as a case of a suicide. Violating the regulations provided by RA Criminal Procedure Code, the judge had taken the appeal to examination in 2016, only a year after its submission. The court had considered the appeal legal and substantiated, and had made decisions on questioning a number of people regarding the case, and making a series of examinations on it.
Rising from the aforementioned, the victim has filed a complaint to the Cassation Court against Judge David Sargsyan’s decision of January 16, 2018. On 22 June, 2018, the second court hearing on the mentioned case was held, during which the representative of the victim’s legal successor R. Martirosyan wanted to file an objection against the case prosecutor K. Aghabekyan, but failed to do so due to the interruption of the court session. The next session will take place on August 1.
On 17 May, 2018, the victim side filed a complaint to the RA PM Nikol Pashinyan, where the investigation of the case, as well as the illegalities of the preliminary investigation body were described in detail.
The response to the application was sent to the RA Prosecutor General.
Information on the Lawsuit of the Soldier Levon Torosyan’s Death Case
On 6 May, 2018, at approximately 7:30 a.m., in the territory of the military base of “Hakobasar” of the RA MoD Military Unit 21127, situated in the northeastern part of the RA, the body of Levon Torosyan (born in 1999, second conscription of 2018, Armavir Military Commissariat), soldier at the same military unit, was found with a mortal gunshot wound in his head.
The 6th Garrison Investigative Department of the RA Investigation Committee filed the criminal case N90753018 on the incident as per Article 110 (Part 1) of the RA Criminal Code, i.e. driving to suicide.
Ruben Martirosyan, expert of “Peace Dialogue” NGO, has also been involved in this case as the representative of the victim’s legal successor. On May 07, 2018, taking part in the examination of the body, alongside the aforementioned gunshot wounds, he also revealed a number of other wounds on the body:
Hemorrhage in the soldier’s genitals,
Scratches in the particular area of both elbows, which have the same sizes, the same date of origin, and may be claimed to have the same cause of origin (they are synchronous, similar injuries)
Based on the aforementioned, Ruben Martirosyan has come to a conclusion, that a deliberate murder has been committed. Before the murder, the perpetrator(s) had hit the victim on the genitals, as a result of which the victim was allegedly deprived of the ability to defend himself. It happened not long before the death, since the hemorrhaged parts were of pink or light red coloring. Taking advantage of the victim’s helplessness, the perpetrator(s) held him by the arms and shot him.
On May 8, the victim side filed a petition of objection against the Head and the investigator of the RA 6th Garrison Investigation Committee to the RA Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan.
The victim side had mediated for commissioning the preliminary investigation of the case to the RA National Security Service’s Investigation Department. The mediation has been satisfied partially. The preliminary investigation was commissioned to the General Department for Especially Important Cases of the RA Investigation Committee.
In our previous reports, we have repeatedly referred to the ambiguity of the designation of the definition “Suitable for military service with restrictions.” We expressed our concern that both the acting law and the new draft law lack precision on how the soldiers, who have been conscripted to military with some restrictions, can get acquainted with the conditions of military service contradicting to their health, or what kind of limitations in the military service are provided for them based on their health conditions. The aforementioned information could only be communicated to soldiers conscripted to military service with restrictions by the command of the military unit. 
According to the RA Investigative Committee’s statement, on February 18, 2016, at approximately 1:00 p.m. in the combat post under the supervision of military unit N, Private Davit Terteryan’s body was found with a mortal gunshot wound to the frontal part of the head.
According to the preliminary investigation body, on April 6, 2016, based on the phone call made by the Vardenis Military Police of the RA MOD Sevan Garrison to the 5th Garrison Investigation Department of the General Investigation Department of the RA Investigation Committee, on the night of April 5-6, at approximately 02:30-03:00 a.m., under unclear circumstances, in the artillery firing position of the MOD 75937 military unit compulsory military servicemen of the MOD 28418 military unit, Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan died of injuries resulting from gunshot wounds, and term servicemen Hakob Gevorgyan and Areg Baghdasaryan received lower limb gunshot injuries.
According to the statement by the Ministry of Defense, on July 31, 2013, at approximately 1:20 p.m. while being on the checkpoint watchtower of the Kanaker military unit, private Manuchar Manucharyan caused a deadly gunshot wound to himself with his AKS-74 self-propelled rifle.
A criminal case on the death of military serviceman Harutyun Hambaryan has been filed in the 3rd Garrison Investigation Department of the General Military Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee. 
Download Quarterly Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Armenian Armed Forces / Vol. 8 (Period: April – June, 2018) (Version: pdf, 455 Kb)
