Peace Dialogue NGO’s new website http://safesoldiers.am is now available. It contains database on non-combat fatalities, deceased soldiers and human rights violations recorded in the RA Armed Forces since signing of the cease-fire in 1994 after the Nagorno Kharabagh war.

As of today, the on-line database includes more than 500 death cases. The compilation of the database became possible due to the information received from media and watchdog groups working on human rights protection in the armed forces, from victims’ relatives and successors, as well as from the information received from state bodies (MoD, military investigative service, etc) in response to numerous inquiries addressed to them.

The staff working on the website tried to list the descriptions of the cases, the places, the dates, the causes, the investigative processes initiated in regards to those cases, as well as the following investigative and trial processes and the violations revealed during those processes.

The aim of the database is to collect and spread information about each of the death cases and human rights violations in the RA Armed Forces. In another words, after a while the website will become a full database. The visitors can also have their contribution in the completion of the database by posting information or uploading photos or media materials about fatality cases or human rights violations in the army that have not been recorded yet in the website or elsewhere. After the moderation of the information from the website by its administrators, the posted information will be available in the website with tags “Verified” or “Unverified”.

According to the implementing team, the ultimate effect of the project will be for example the fact that the quick updates about the illegalities and human rights violations recorded in any of the units and posted by the witnesses can serve as an alarm for the authorities to take necessary actions after they are clarified and approved.

In addition, staff will continue to update various human rights related announcement and news releases available for the visitors of the website as information is discovered. Certain sections of the website include the RA legislation regulating the relationship between the armed forces and citizens, international agreements, local regulations, documents, reports and publications, as well as various research and expert opinions related to the topic.

The website is prepared within the project Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia supported by Dutch organization Pax.

Pax means peace. PAX brings together people who have the courage to stand for peace. Together with people in conflict areas and concerned citizens worldwide, PAX works to build dignified, democratic, and peaceful societies across the globe.

Based on the observations of Peace Dialogue NGO, 23 fatalities were recorded in the RA Armed Forces for the period from January-June of 2014. 10 of the recorded cases occurred in the territory of Armenia, the other 13 cases in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Based on the preliminary information, 11 of the cases are a result of ceasefire regime violation:

1. Karen Galstyan
2. Armen Hovhannisyan
3. Garnik Torosyan
4. Arayik Babayan
5. Arthur Ohanjanyan
6. Erik Gasparyan
7. Garik Balayan
8. Narek Poghosyan
9. Boris Gasparyan
10. Andranik Eghoyan
11. Armen Avetisyan

3 soldiers died as a result of health issues:

1. Edik Shahnazaryan
2. Hayk Makaryan
3. Arshak Zadayan

3 fatalities were the result of a safety rules violation:

1. Arman Ghoukasyan
2. Nerses Karapetyan
3. Harutyun Safaryan

4 soldiers died as a result of fatal accidents:

1. Yesayi Yesayan
2. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan
3. Merujan Harutyunyan
4. Arevik Babasyan

According to the preliminary information, noncommissioned officer Yesayi Yesayan and contractual soldier Hovhannes Hovhannissyan were not on duty at the time of the accident: they died because of a car accident.

2 murder cases were recorded in the RA Armed Forces in the period of January- June, 2014.

1. Grisha Khachatryan
2. Derenik Manukyan

New violations are being revealed during the trial of the case regarding a soldier’s alleged suicide. On November 5, 2012 death was recorded in the RA armed forces. At approximately 12:30 a.m. the body of a nineteen-year-old private soldier Sargis Sahakyan was found in a combat base in Syunik region. According to the official hypothesis the case was qualified as a suicide. Two soldiers of the same unit Artashes Khachatryan and Arthur Sisakyan were charged with driving Sargis Sahakyan to commit suicide.

According to the experts, however, the forensic doctor ignored numerous factors which prove that the nineteen-year-old soldier was murdered. In particular, the bone fractures on the upper and lower jaw, in the corners of the mouth, injuries on the outer surface above the upper lip, as well as  scratches on the forefinger of the right hand cannot be caused as a result of a gunshot and clearly indicate that the victim was subjected to violence. The mentioned injuries are obvious signs of struggle, which prove that the victim was subjected to violence. Most probably the muzzle was forcibly put in his mouth.

All the injuries that were recorded in the forensic examination report, the soldier received while he was alive: “[the injuries were caused] not long before the death with a blunt and hard object and they have no causal connection with the cause of the death.” According to the official hypothesis, Sargis Sahakyan committed suicide after the fellow soldiers cursed and humiliated him for eating the food sent from home alone.

The defendants Arthur Sisakyan and Artashes Khachatryan accused of causing suicide do not admit their guilt. Sisakyan and six witnesses of the case renounced their preliminary investigation testimonies during previous sessions at court.

They justified the fact that they gave false testimonies stating that they were subjected to violence in the military police department, and that they were kept in custody for up to one month and were forced to write that Sargis ate the food alone after which they started insulting him, as a result of which the latter committed suicide.

In the Syunik region Trial Court the rights of the victim’s successor is represented by Peace Dialogue NGO’s expert Ruben Martirosyan who has informed that new circumstances are being revealed about the “strange things”, to put it mildly, committed buy the preliminary investigation bodies.

Ruben Martirosyan: “A forensic biological examination of Sargis Sahakyan’s weapon was carried out and another illegality conducted by the preliminary investigation bodies was revealed. On the riffle that according to the preliminary investigation body was the weapon attached to the deceased soldier with which he committed suicide( according to the obtained evidence Sargis put the riffle in his mouth, fired and killed himself) no traces of blood or saliva were found. This is an absolute prove that he was murdered and that he was murdered with another weapon. In addition to this fact there is another crucial fact of crime: during the investigation of the crime scene investigator Hayk Hayrapetyan confiscated the weapon and allegedly wrapped it in the presence of witnesses after which sealed it with his own seal Investigator-62. However, in the examination center it was recorded that the weapon was sealed with a seal Investigator-60. Thus, the integrity of the packaging was illegally violated. Since the court was presented with a document affirming that the seal Investigator-60 belonged to investigator Melik Karamyan of the same garrison investigation service, we can state that the illegal act was conducted by that same investigator. According to the aggrieved party he replaced the weapons by putting and then wrapping the deceased soldiers riffle instead of a riffle with an unknown number. I think the authorities and the relevant bodies should pay serious attention to this fact. If these illegalities were not carried out with the instructions of General Prosecutor or the Military Prosecutor, then they will immediately withdraw the case, will drop the charges against innocent soldiers and will initiate a new criminal case in regards to the murder. In this way they can reveal the crimes and other numerous illegalities committed by the investigators out of personal or group interest.

This is not the only illegality regarding the murder weapon: the fingerprints were destroyed from the weapon by the investigation body. The latter “was not able” to even find the bullet casing which as a rule lies near the weapon within the distance of 0-30 cm.

The fact that the preliminary investigation body failed to carry out an investigation regarding these two facts and did not pay attention to them (both the fingerprints and the bullet casing were destroyed) gives reason to assume that they were destroyed by the preliminary investigation body rather than by the murderers.

In addition, the former investigator Hayk Hayrapetyan who was questioned at court as a witness informed that he carried out the investigation of the crime scene together with Melik Karamyan. This is yet another flagrant illegality because this fact and the name were not mentioned in the investigation report of the crime scene. Thus, it is suspicious with which status Melik Karamyan was taking part in the crime scene investigation.

All of the mentioned above makes us wonder what exactly General Prosecutor and Military Prosecutors are doing. Where are the Armenian authorities and the relevant bodies? How long will these flagrant illegalities continue? These illegalities concern not only this case but also numerious other murder cases known to us. How long will the intentional murders committed by the relevant bodies be presented by the Prosecutor’s Office as a suicide? How long will the Minister of Defense close his eyes to what is happening in the army?”

Artak Nazaryan’s case was sent to the European Court of Human Rights and the aggrieved party has already received a notification that the case was received and will be reviewed for proceedings.

According to the official hypothesis, on July 27, 2010, at approximately 7:50 a.m., at Ghozlu combat base, under the supervision of RA MoD unit number 21127, Lieutenant Artak Sinari Nazaryan, who was assigned as a commanding officer of the base, shot himself in the mouth with AK-74 number 1093977, assigned to him, and died immediately. Numerous facts indicate that a biased and false preliminary examination was carried out that was accompanied by numerous and various violations of the Criminal Procedure Code, as a result of which an obvious intentional murder was presented as a “suicide.” Five soldiers were arrested with this false hypothesis. The violations in the preliminary investigation are numerous and various: destruction of evidence, destruction of the fingerprints from the rifle considered to be the murder weapon, creation of fake records, and extortion under coercion and torture of witness testimonies that considerably contradict the evidence in the case and the forensic examination reports. The trial that started in Autumn of 2011 not only did not clarify the contradictions of the case but added some more to them: new facts were revealed about the extortion of witness testimonies by deception, detention of witness soldiers for 23 days, and formation of a number of other false records and documents. A Tavush regional Trial Court, presided over by Judge S. Mardanyan, during a trial that lasted about one year and ten months, tried to do everything to conceal both minor and major illegalities committed during the preliminary investigation. Everything ended with a conviction, although the aggrieved party and the defendant were demanding acquittal.

According to Peace Dialogue NGO’s military expert Ruben Martirosyan, the irony is that the indictment was completely reproduced in the verdict, as if the two-year judicial process never took place and the crimes committed by the preliminary investigative body were never revealed. The Court of Appeals, after admitting the case, made a decision to examine the case in a cassation procedure, which means the court declined to hear witness testimonies or investigate evidence. As a result, the Court of Appeals left S. Mardanyan’s verdict unaltered. Five soldiers were sentenced to different periods of imprisonment. The Court of Cassation refused to begin proceedings.

The victim’s successor sent a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in which he presented facts about the violation of Artak Nazaryan’s right to life, hoping that an objective investigation will be carried out, if not in Armenia at least in the European Court of Human Rights.

Senior Lieutenant Merujan Harutyunyan died as a result of drowning in lake Tandzik in the area of Areni village, Vayots Dzor region. Meruzhan Harutyunyan went missing on May 1, and his body was found by the divers of the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Emergency the day before. This hypothesis is confirmed by the results of the forensic examination of the body. Peace Dialogue NGO expert Ruben Martirosyan was present at the examination at Meruzhan’s father’s reguest.

Senior Lieutenant Merujan Harutyunyan (born in 1986) served for four years after graduating from the V. Sargsyan Military Academy. He went missing at approximately 6:00 pm while performing his duties at the combat base of a military unit no. 70179 in Vayots Dzor region on May 1 . According to media reports, he was seen dead flowing down the Arpa river the following day. The rescuers found his body on May 11, at approximately 6:00 pm.

According to the information provided by Ruben Martirosyan, there were neither fractures nor obvious violence traces found on M. Harutyunyan’s body as a result of the body examination. There is only a trace similar to a bruise on the front of the head, near the nasal root. However, forensic pathologist Gafaryan cannot say at the moment whether the bruise is a result of hitting or a transformation of the body; it will be clear in a month.

Expert R. Martirosyan will continue to pursue the case to be revealed. In case the crime group is found and a criminal case is initiated, R. Martirosyan is ready to be the rights representative of the victim’s successor. According to him, there are still a number of questions that need an answer: M. Harutyunyan was taken out of water in a military uniform and boots, therefore he did not have intention to swim; one of his mobile phones on which he talked before his death is not found until now; it is unknown why and under which circumstances he left the combat base arbitrarily, etc.

In 2009 M. Harutyunyan’s aunt’s son Sergey Manukyan allegedly committed suicide during his temporary military service.