FAIR COURT IN DILIJAN
“In partially closed institutions (such as the army) where the possibilities of recovering violated rights are restricted and the legal mechanisms for recovering rights are minimized, the guarantee of the soldiers’ rights and interests should be the state itself, including the authorities of the defense sphere.” This is how the president of Peace Dialogue NGO Edgar Khachatryan started his speech during the Fair Court simulation game meeting in Dilijan. The simulation game is organized within the framework of the Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia project.
The event organized on October 13 aimed at drawing public attention to the problems in the Armenian armed forces. According to the staff of the organization, the great number of human rights violations in the army and the alarming number of fatalities in the army during peacetime (25 fatalities have been recorded since the beginning of 2013) are the result of the atmosphere of impunity among officers and soldiers, as well as weak control over the military (weak civic control, in particular).
“It is not right to connect the current issues with the poor upbringing or lack of preparedness of the soldiers befor being drafted,” says E. Khachatryan. This idea has been frequently expressed by the participants of previous Fair Courts.
To a participant’s question regarding what this event can contribute, in general, if only a small group takes part in it and has an opportunity to feel for themselves the customs and the lifestyle existing in that sphere, E. Khachatryan answered, “for us,
this is first of all an issue that has a systemic nature and it is necessary that each and every citizen participates in its solutions.”
Although the participants were stating in the beginning of the meeting that, despite the issues in the army they are also aware of the achievements in that sphere and they consider it more important to talk about them, at the end of the meeting they were already expressing their concerns that few people are concerned about the issues in the army and it is necessary for the public at large to be aware of this problem and think it over.
At the end of the discussion, one participant states, “…it is very important that we see everything from inside: how justice should work, how the different parts of the same phenomenon are interconnected with each other and how it happens when justice is not applied.”
The project Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia is supported by IKV Pax Christi.
IKV Pax Christi is a Dutch civil society organisation that works with its partners for peace, reconciliation and justice worldwide. The organisation supports local peace efforts in conflict areas and builds bridges, nurture mutual understanding and improve disrupted relations between groups. IKV Pax Christi‘s aim is to prevent conflict and to build a peaceful, democratic and just society.
Posted 16 October, 2013
