Since January 2017 Peace Dialogue NGO received information about 59 death cases: 25 cases were recorded in the territory of RA and 34 cases were recorded in Nagorno Karabakh.

In the mentioned period the organization received information about 6 murder cases, 8 suicide cases, 22 cases that were the result of ceasefire regime violation, 3 cases that were the result of negligence, 3 cases that were the result of health problems, 3 cases that were the result of safety rules violation and 5 more cases the cause of which is yet unknown.

Ceasefire regime violation

Garik Vardanyan (15 January, Tavush region)

Soldier Garik Vardanyan (1996) who was seriously injured by the enemy on December 29, 2016 died on January 15, 2017 at 11:35p.m in the Yerevan Central Clinical Military Hospital.

The Azerbaijani troops had attempted a subversive penetration in the south-east direction of village Chinari, Tavush region.  As a result of this subversive penetration attempt senior lieutenant Shavarsh Melikyan and private soldiers Edgar Narayan and Erik Abovyan were killed.

Andranik Musikyan (18 January, NK)

Karen Ulubabyan (22 January, NK)

Gor Gareginyan (6 February, NK)

Gegham Manukyan  (8 February, NK)

Never Babajanyan (1 March, NK)

Narek Harutyunyan ( 24 March, NK)

Artak Rafaelyan  (28 March, NK)

Gor Hovhannisyan  (31 March, NK)

Mher Arzumanyan (28 April, NK)

Karen Danielyan (20 May, NK)

Armen Haroutyunyan  (26 May, NK)

Arayik Matinyan  (16 June, NK)

The servicemen Arayik Matinyan, Vigen Petrosyan and Vardan Sargsyan (all born in 1997), were fatally wounded after the Azerbaijani side opened fire from a rocket-propelled grenade against the military posts of the NK Defense Army.

Vigen Petrosyan (16 June, NK)

Vardan Sargsyan  (16 June, NK)

Narek Gasparyan  (17 June, NK)

Vazgen Poghosyan (10 July, NK)

Arman Movsisyan (14 August, NK)

Artak Bisharyan (27 August, NK)

Seyran Sargsyan (28 September, NK)

Chaplin Margaryan  (10 October, RA)

The statement issued by the General Prosecutor’s Office reads:

“On October 10,2017 Azerbaijani side fatally wounded serviceman of Armenian Army Chaplin Margaryan (born in 1998) in a military base of one of the military units, located in the northeastern direction of Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The soldier died after being hospitalized at the military hospital. The same day the 6th garrison investigative division of the RA Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case under Article 34-104, Part 2, point 13 of the RA Criminal Code.

As a result of urgent investigative and other procedural actions undertaken towards the comprehensive, objective and complete clarification of the circumstances of the case, sufficient factual data has been obtained that the causes for Chaplin Margaryan’s death were the failure to comply with the safety rules when carrying out engineering works at the combat post and the negligent attitude of the combat post officer.

Taking into consideration the given circumstance, by the order of the Prosecutor General of the Lori Garrison Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia, the combat post officer, the Deputy Commander of the 1st Rifle Battalion Command of the Defense Ministry, Major T.P. was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 376 (part 2) of the RA Criminal Code, which negligently caused grave consequences.”

The preliminary investigation is underway.

Tigran Khachatryan (19 October, NK)

Murder

Arayik Sargsyan (16 January, NK)

On January 16, 2017  in the defense position of a NK DA military unit contract soldier, Sergeant Arayik Sargsyan received a fatal gunshot wound from another soldier of that unit as a result of breach of rules for handling weapons, reported the Investigative Committee.

The announcement of the Inivestigative Committee stated: “According to the preliminary informaiton, the private soldier took the rifle that was attached to his co-serviceman, partially took out the ammunition and tried to recharge it, then thinking that no bullet was inserted in the ammunition he pulled the triger. As a result, he fired a shot and soldier S. Sargsyan received a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The later died while being hospitalised. ”

The soldier was charged under Article 373, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of rules for handling weapons which negligently caused the human death). The soldier was arrested. His name is not mentioned.

Gurgen Sargsyan  (March 1, Yerevan)

Private Gurgen Sargsyan received a gunshot wound in the head on January 16, 2017 at approximately 11:55p.m. in the combat post of N military unit while on military duty and was immediately taken to the military hospital.

The investigation revealed that circumstances of how the soldier got shot. Based on the evidence obtained junior sergeant was charged under Article 373, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him.

Gagik Mesropyan (10 May, Tavush region)

On May 10, 2017 early in the morning temporary soldier, junior sergeant Gagik Mesropyan received a gunshot wound in the combat post of the RA MoD N military unit and died on the way to hospital.

The investigative actions undertaken in the 6th garrison investigative department revealed that G. Mesropyan received the fatal gunshot wound as a result of intentionally fired shot in his direction. The identity of the offender was revealed: he is a soldier of the same military unit, born in 1997.

With all the sufficient evidence obtained, the soldier was charged under Article 104 of the Part 1 of the Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure.

The investigation is underway.

Vardan Grigoryan (17 August, Tavush region)

On August 17, 2017 a body was found in a burnt car on Nerkin Karmiraghbyur-Paravakar highway in Tavush region.  The body of Vardan Grigoryan, a 32-year-old resident of the same village, was found in a VAZ 2106 model car that had turned into ashes.

Another soldier serving in the same unit S. Lalayan and who also happens to be from the same village as the victim was arrested on suspicion of murdering the contract soldier.

Under the pressure of undeniable evidence Lalayan clarified some details about the crime to the law-enforcement officials. A few hours prior the murder he left a party with the victim and together with the him they went to Nerkin Karmirgyugh where in a dispute over some family issues he hit numerous blows to V. Grigoryan. Then he put Grigoryan into his own car and pushing the car near the slope tumbled it down the steep slope. Then he went down the steep slopes and burned the car. A criminal case was initiated at the Tavush Marz Investigation Department and documents will be transferred to the Garrison Investigation Division. Vardan Grigoryan was 32 years old and had one child.

Aram Khachatryan (20 October, NK)

Soldier Aram Khachatryan (1998) received a fatal gunshot wound in the right shoulder on October 20, 2017 at approximately 12:40p.m at the defense post of N military unit. The soldier died on the way to hospital.

As a result of large-scale investigative actions aimed at ensuring comprehensive, objective and complete investigation of all the circumstances of the deadly gunshot, sufficient facts were obtained that A. Khachatryan became a victim of a murder. The identity of the perpetrator was revealed.

A junior sergeant of the same unit was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The preliminary investigation is underway.

Narek Adibekyan (11 December, NK)

On December 11, 2017 at approximately 7:30p.m. in the defense area of one of the NK DA military units soldier Narek Adibekyan (Born in 1996) received a fatal gunshot wound from a fellow soldier.

An investigation is underway to find the circumstances of the case.

Suicide

Shavarsh Galstyan  (25 January, RA)

According to the official report of the Investigative Committee, on January 25,2017 at 08:50 am, the body of a compulsory military serviceman Shavarsh Galstyan was found in a sitting position on a wooden stub designed for closing the peephole in the combat post. He was found with a fatal gunshot wound in the jaw. At the scene, the rifle attached to him and a capsule were also found on the floor.

“”Actual data have been obtained that another soldier, who had been appointed as an observer for the same shift, periodically exploited Galstyan and instructed him to provide personal services such as to make coffee, tea, wash the dirty plates to emphasize his apparent advantage and priority over Galstyan. Moreover, he used insult Galstyan and offend his dignity, “mentioned the Investigative Committee.

Initially it was mentioned that a criminal case was initiated under Article 110, Part 1 (driving someone to commit suicide) of the RA Criminal Code, however according to the official announcement of the Investigative Committee charges were filed under Article 359, Part 1 (breach of Code of Conduct for relationships between the servicemen).

The preliminary investigation is underway, post-mortem fingerprint and ballistic expert examinations have been appointed.

Lernik Osyan (18 February, NK)

On February 18, 2017 at approximately 11:45a.m. in a defense area of a military unit located in the south of the NK DA, temporary soldier Lernik Osyan (Born in 1998) received a fatal gunshot wound.

An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of the incident. A criminal case was initiated under the article on causing someone to commit suicide.

Karen Avetisyan (25 April, NK)

The second garrison investigation department is investigating the circumstances of soldier Karen Avetisyan’s death, the press service of the RA Investigative Committee reports.

Private Karen Avetisyan was found dead with a gunshot wound in the jaw at approximately 5:00a.m. on April 25, 2017 in the combat position of N military unit.

According to the preliminary data, K. Avetisyan imjured himself from the machine gun attached to him. An investigation was initiated in the third garrison investigation department under Article 110, party 1 of the RA Criminal Code. A preliminary investigation is underway.
All necessary investigative actions are underway to ensure comprehensive, full and objective investigation of the case. Expert examinations have been appointed.

Melik Khachatryan (1 June, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the fourth garrison unit of Armenia’s General Military Investigative Department into the death of contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan.

The RA IC reports that on June 1, 2017 at approximately 3:30p.m. they received information that contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan (Born in 1981) was found hanged in the warehouse of N military unit of the RA MoD. A letter was also found in the at the scene. A forensic examination was appointed and all necessary measures are taken to ensure a comprehensive.

Grisha Karapetyan (17 June, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department into the death of soldier Grisha Karapetyan.

Earlier we had informed that on May 17, 2017 at approximately 10:30a.m. in the combat of the N military unit protection area contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan received a fatal gunshot wound. According to preliminary data obtained by the investigation of the incident and as a result of urgent procedural action contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan shot himself from a gun attached to him.

An investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.

Vardan Melkonyan  (23 July, Yerevan)

On July 23, at approximately 6:30a.m. the body of junior Sergeant Vardan Melkonyan (Born in 1998, Vanadzor m/c), who had voluntarily left his military unit, was found hung in the area of the N military unit of the RA MoD.

A criminal case was initiated in the 4th garrison investigative division under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.

As a result of investigative actions, evidence and facts were obtained that on July 22, 2017 at approximately 11:30p.m. the junior sergeant was subjected to violence by a co-serviceman in the N military unit division’s household room.

The co-serviceman was arrested on suspicion of committing an act envisaged by Part 1 of Article 358 of the RA Criminal Code.

Abas Sloyan  (13 August, Shirak region)

The body of a temporary soldier of Yezidi origin was found near one of the houses in Hatsik village in Shirak Province.

In an interview with express.am the Arthur Matevosyan, head of village Karmrakar a neighbor village of Hatshik, said that the soldier was from Hatsik. “He ran away from army and came to his village and hanged himself near his house.”Later the RA Investigative Committee issued a statement saying that soldier Abas Sloyan voluntarily left his service post and returned to his home in village Hatsik. His body was found hanging in the auxiliary building of one of the houses on the 14th street of the village.

A criminal case was initiated under Article 110 (Part 1) of the RA Criminal Code (inciting suicide).

Andranik Mkrtchyan  (20 August, RA)

26-year old contract soldier, captain Andranik Mkrtchyan went into his office and committed suicide. His body was found on August 20, 2017 at 4:20p.m. in his office with a gunshot wound on the jaw.

A criminal case has been initiated under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (inciting suicide). An investigatino is underway.

Fatal incident

Garegin Minasyan (15 February, RA)

The RA MoD bulldozer rolled into a gorge: one soldier is dead, two other soldiers received injuries. The Investigative body initiated a criminal case over the accident that resulted in the death of the contract soldier. The preliminary investigation is underway.

According to provisional data, on February 16 at approximately 3pm a bulldozer, which belongs to a military unit of the Ministry of Defense (MOD), rolled into a gorge, while clearing the road that leads to the military position of this unit.

As a result, soldiers Garegin Minasyan, Armen Pukha, and Vruyr Nersisyan—who were inside the bulldozer—received injuries.

Contract soldier Garegin Minasyan died en route to the MOD Gegharkunik Garrison Military Hospital. On the same day, Pukha and Nersisyan were transferred to the MOD Central Clinical Military Hospital.

Ruben Mnatsakanyan (8 May, NK)

In the morning of May 8, 2017 a car accident occurred in one of the military units located in the northern direction of the NK Defense Army, reported the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Artsakh.

According to the initial data, as a result of a tragic vehicle accident three soldiers of the NK DA- Ruben Barseghyan (Born in 1998), Rafael Bisharyan (Born in 1997) and Ruben Mnatsakanyan (Born 1998) -were drowned in a reservoir near the military unit. After the searching operations, the bodies of two servicemen-Ruben Barseghyan and Rafael Bisharyan were found. The searh operation is underway to recover Ruben Mnatsakanyan’s body. An investigation is underway to find out the details of the accident.

Ruben Bareseghyan (8 May, NK)

Rafael Bisharyan (8 May, NK)

Hayk Khachatryan (1 September, NK)

On September 1, 2017 at approximately 11:50a.m., at a military unit located to the south-east of the contact line NK MoD soldier Hayk Khachatryan (Born in 1998) was deadly injured in a mine explosion.

Gevorg Khanamiryan (23 October, RA)

Norair Hovhannisyan (28 October, RA)

Tatul Tadevosyan (22 November, RA)

On November 22, 2017 the body of a soldier of the RA Armed Forces was found in Syunik province. He had died in a car accident. The

This information was confirmed by the spokesan of the RA Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan. The deceased soldier was Tatul Tadevosyan (born in 1993), resident of Zaritap village, Vayots Dzor region.

Samvel Karchikyan (21 December, RA)

Health issues

Armen Tsaturyan (26 April, Yerevan)

On April 26, 2017 at approximately 8:00a.m. the Police Department of Yerevan Nor Nork received a phone call that a man’s body was found in a Nissan March 41XV model car in front of the Ideal store in Nor Nork 5th Block. It was revealed that the deceased man was Armen Tsaturyan, a 31-year-old resident of Yerevan Shopron 1 Lane and an engineer at one of the military subdivisions of the RA Ministry of Defense. According to the forensic doctor, he died of heart attack.

Narek Mkhitaryan (14 June, NK)

Contract soldier Narek Mkhitaryan had undergone surgery on the neck mid-cyst, but died the next day after the surgery on June 14, 2017 .

Garnik Petrosyan (24 November, RA)

Negligence, Inaction

Garegin Arghamanyan (17 February, NK)

On February 17, the body of private Garegin Arghamanyan (Born in 1997), serviceman of the radio platoon of the communication unit ,was found at about 07:30a.m. in the battery charging warehouse of a permanent deployment location of a military base of the NK Defense Army.

According to preliminary data, the serviceman died from carbon monoxide poisoning of the diesel generator emissions.

In the first garrison investigation department a criminal case was initiated under Article 376 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (negligent attitude towards the service, if caused negligently by heavy consequences). An investigation is underway.

Gor Khudinyan (23 February, NK)

On February 23, 2017 at approximately 00:45a.m. in a defense are of N military unit contract soldier, Captain Gor Khudinyan received fatal shrapnel wounds from explosion of a bullet in the gun barrel while he was trying to fire from a machine gun to suppress the fire of the enemy.

An investigation was initiated in the third garrison investigative division under Article 376, part 2 of the RA Criminal Code (negligent attitude to military service, if they negligently caused grave consequences).

Hrant Mangasaryan (4 November, NK)

On November 4, 2017 at approximately 12:10p.m. one servicemen of NK Defense army as killed and two others were wounded when an anti-tank grenade exploded at NK Armed Forces military unit in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

Serviceman Hrant Mangasaryan (Born in 1997) received a fatal gunshot wound while Gevorg Hyusnunts and Sergey Alumyan suffered shrapnel wounds.

An investigation has been launched into the incident in the third garrison investigative division under Article 376, part 2 of the RA Criminal Code. All necessary investigative actions are taken to find out all the circumstances of the incident.

3 death cases that were the result of safety rules violation (violations of the rules for handling weapons)

Narek Hakobyan  (21 April, Vayots Dzor)

The 8th Garrison Investigative Division of the Military Investigative Department initiated a criminal case over the fatal gunshot wound that contract soldier, private Narek Hakobyan (Born on August 30, 1986) received.

According to the initial data Narek Hakobyan received the fatal gunshot wound on April 21, 2017 at 10:25a.m. during the camp trainings organized in Vayots Dzor: contract soldier of N military unit of the 6th company shot Hakobyan while cleaning his own rifle as a result of breach of rules for handing weapon.

A criminal case initiated under Article 373, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. An investigation is underway. All necessary investigative actions are taken to ensure an objective and thorough investigation of the soldier’s death.

 Arkadi Ghambaryan (28 July, Tavush region)

A contract soldier was killed on July 28, 2017 in one of the defense posts in Noyemberyan, Tavush region.

33-year old serviceman Arkadi Ghambaryan was from village Karkop, Tavush region: He died of a fatal gunshot wound. It is yet unknown whether the soldier was shot by the adversary.

According to preliminary data the serviceman received fatal injuries on July 28, at 4:40p.m. as a result of violation of rules for handling weapons.

6th garrison investigation division initiated a criminal case under Article 373, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code.

An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of the case.

Hrach Avetisyan  (20 October, NK)

According to preliminary data, on October 20, 2017 NK DA servicemen Aram Khachatryan (Born in 1998) and Hrach Avetisyan (Born in 1997) received fatal gunshot wounds as a result of violation of rules of handling weapons. An investigation is underway.

It should be noted: according to preliminary official information, Aram Khachatryan and Hrach Avetisyan became victims of the same incident, but from the next report on Aram Khachatryan’s death (in which nothing is said about Hrach Avetisyan) it becomes clear that he had been killed.

An official statement on the cause of death of 5 servicemen has not been made yet or the organization has not been able to clarify them.

Sargis Apinyan  (26 January, RA)

In the 4th garrison investigative division of the RA Investigative Committee an investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of cadet Sargis Apinyan’s death.

According to preliminary information, on January 26, 2017 at approximately 14:20p.m. cadet Sargis Apinyan’s health drastically deteriorated at the drill ground. The serviceman was taken to the military unit’s medical facility, where, however, he died at approximatly 5:35pm.

A forensic examination has been assigned.

Arshak Arshakyan (14 May, RA)

On May 14, 2017 at 3:15p.m.  the body of contract soldier, junior Sergeant Arshak Arshakyan was found in the combat post of the RA MoD N military unit with a gunshot wound around the jawline, reports the press service of the RA Investigative Committee.

An investigation is underway in the 9th garrison investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee to find out the circumstances of A. Arshakyan’s death.

Gegham Zakaryan (21 November, NK)

Sargis Abrahamyan (21 November, NK)

Sargis Meliqyan  (21 November, NK)

These three soldiers died in the same incident: on November 21, 2017 at 6:35p.m. NK Defense Army servicemen Gegham Zakaryan (Born in 1995), Sargis Abrahamyan (Born in 1998) and Sargis Melikyan (Bor in 1997) received fatal injuries in a mine explosion at one of the military units located in the north-eastern direction of the conatact line.

The NK DA press service reported that another serviceman Narek Hoveyan (Born in 1998) received injuries in the mine explosion. Her condition is estimated to be severe.

An investigation is underway to find out the details of the incident.

July-September, 2017

Peace Dialogue NGO is presenting the current issue of its quarterly report on the conditions of Human Rights in the RA Armed 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 monitoring 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, particularly aimed, but not limited to, at seeking relevant solutions and promoting those solutions by presenting them to the Armenian authorities and relevant international actors.

This report includes the latest analysis and covers the following topics:

1. The Human Rights provisions in the RA Armed Forces included in the Plan of Action for the National Strategy on Human Rights protection 2017-2019: how the actions that were not implemented or were partially implemented in the previous strategy reflected in the new strategy;

2. Representatives of various  faiths  and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the RA Armed Forces;

3. The number of fatalities in the RA and NK armed forces for July-September 2017;

4. Information related to the investigation of private soldier Davit Terteryan’s death case;

5. Information related to the investigation of private soldiers Grigor Avetisyan’s and Souren Aramyan’s death cases;

6. Update on the court case of the death of Private Manuchar Manucharyan;

7. Update on the court case of the death of Private Haroutyun Hambaryan;

8. The Administrative Court rejected Peace Dialogue’s request to force the Ministry of Defense to provide information to the organization.

1. The Human Rights provisions in the RA Armed Forces included in the Plan of Action for the National Strategy on Human Rights protection 2017-2019: how the actions that were not implemented or were partially implemented in the previous strategy reflected in the new strategy.

On May 4, 2017 the RA Government made a decision to approve the Plan of Action for the National Strategy on Human Rights protection 2017-2019 (HRP Strategy 2017-2019). The decision includes the provisions of Human Rights in the Armed Forces and covers 7 points: 

• Develop Mechanisms ensuring mandatory provision of Medical Examination Conclusions to the conscripts. (Act. N-28),
• Establish a reasonable time-frame for the provision of documents to the servicemen who were discharged earlier due to health problems. (Act. N-29),
• Include the subject “Human Rights in the Armed Forces” in the curricula of military educational institutions, as well as ensure its accessibility on the RA Ministry of Defense’s official website for distance learning. (Act. N-30),
• Ensure that the conscripts are informed about their rights and the mechanisms for their protection by elaborating the procedure for giving conscripts memo on their rights to dismissal from military service or right to serve near the place of their residence and other rights along with the consignment note. (Act. N-31),
• Establish mechanisms for the activities of the monitoring group in garrison isolators, taking into account the requirements of the RA legislation and international best practice (Act. N-32),
• Clearly specify the characteristics of the illnesses that allow the soldier to obtain a deferment/sick leave. (Act. N-33),
• Ensure a mandatory notification of each legal act (penalty, etc.) adopted on each conscript, soldier or their equalized persons and the copies of these documents to the soldiers and their families, as well as develop a mechanism for allowing them to learn about the complaint procedure. (Act. N-34).

We have compared the HRP Strategy 2014-2016 with the new strategy and found out that several actions of the previous strategy are not included in the new strategy. We can conclude that some actions have been removed due to a change in the legislation regulating the sector or simply because they have lost their relevance. However, in some cases, the logic of removing the actions is not quite clear.

For example Paragraph 35 of the HRP Strategy 2014-2016 “Strengthen the measures taken to prohibit and eliminate non-statutory relations in the armed forces and ensure speedy, impartial and detailed investigation into all cases of non-statutory relations and deaths in peace in the armed forces” is  not included in the new strategy.

With the appropriate actions regarding the  Paragraph  35 of the HRP Strategy 2014-2016,it was expected to eliminate extra-statutory relations in the armed forces and carry out preventive measures and organize trainings to raise the level of awareness of the soldiers about the ban on torture and ill-treatment.

It should be noted that in 2013 the number of recorded fatalities was 32, and the number of those killed not in the ceasefire violation was 27. In 2014, 2015 and 2016 the total number of fatalities were 46, 76 and 162 respectively, while the number of those killed not in ceasefire regime violations were respectively 20, 37, 53.

According to military expert of Peace Dialogue NGO Ruben Martirosyan it is hard to speak of impartiality and objectivity of the investigation of several death cases (for instance the cases of M.Manucharyan, D. Terteryan, G. Avetisyan and S. Aramyan, as well as H. Hambaryan) registered in the armed forces in which the organization was involved at the request of the aggrieved party and he expects no positive changes.

Paragraph  26 of the HRP Strategy 2014-2016 states  the following action: “Specify by law the standards for classification of information in line with the international experience (state, official, commercial, personal secrets)”. No such action is envisaged in the new strategy. It should be noted that the organization recorded a regress in this area, which is conditioned by Decree N 9 of the MoD Minister adopted in 2015. According to Chapter 17, Paragraphs  42 and 43 of that decree

42. The incidents in the Armed Forces, as well as the information revealing their causes are considered classified information, based on the level of their secrecy and given the changes in the political and operative situation of the country;

43. Information revealing the investigation materials regarding the infringements in the Armed Forces is considered classified information, based on the level of their secrecy.

Peace Dialogue argues that the information mentioned in Paragraphs  42 and  43 of N 9 executive order of the RA Minister of Defense is not included in the list of the encrypted information provided by the RA Law on State and Official Secret, does not fit into the formulations prescribed by law and does not ensure the implementation of the provisions of the law. The encryption of the information mentioned in Paragraphs  42 and  43 obviously does not aim at preventing possible arbitrariness of the law and does not guarantee the rights of the persons or the groups of people as it is provided by the RA Law on Fundamentals of Administrative Action and Administrative Proceedings.

Paragraph  115 of the previous strategy envisaged establishing an institute of a Military Ombudsman in accordance with the current regulations of the RA Law on “Human Rights Defender”. Despite the fact that a number of human rights organizations and human rights defenders in Armenia have repeatedly voiced the necessity of the military ombudsman’s institution, there has not been any mention of the introduction of the Military Ombudsman Institute so far.

Paragraphs 43 and 44 of the HRP Strategy 2014-2016 were also not included in the HRP Strategy 2017-2019.

• Organising of regular courses on the ban on tortures and other cruel treatment for law-enforcement authorities and military servicemen and corresponding doctors.
• Rule out the service of conscripts at the military prosecutor’s office.

Studying the 4 paragraphs  included in the chapter “The rights of the soldiers and conscripts” a few similarities can be found between Paragraph  109 of the previous strategy and Paragraph 28 of the new strategy. In particular, they both refer to the provision of the medical examination report to the servicemen.

If the previous strategy envisioned retaining the mandatory procedure for the provision of a medical examination report and subsequently the procedure was defined, paragraph 28 of the new strategy refers to the mandatory provision and as an auditing criterion and mentions the following: “The draft legal act has been submitted to the RA Government”. It should be assumed that by the end of the first quarter of 2018 a draft legal act will be prepared which will define the procedure of the provision of the decisions of the medical and military medical commissions to the conscripts, as well as the procedure for a mandatory provision of medical examinations by the medical institutions.

Accordingly, Paragraphs 110 and 29 refer to the provision of documents to the servicemen who were discharged earlier due to health problems. Paragraph 110 established a 7-day deadline for provision of documents by the Defense Department, which was to be secured by a legal act, whereas Paragraph 29 referred to only a reasonable time-frame for the provision of all documents. The latter will also require a submission of a draft legal act by the first quarter of 2018. A reasonable time limit will be established for the provision of documents for the servicemen who were discharged earlier due to health problems, in which the reasons for early discharge should be properly stated.

Paragraph 108 of the previous strategy and Paragraph 31 of the new strategy are also interconnected:  both are talking about raising awareness of the rights of conscripts and their protection.

It should be noted that an action was set for the implementation of Paragraph 108 by the second quarter of 2016 that is the review of teaching methods and the topics on the rights and duties of servicemen included in the curriculum of the Initial Military Training (IMT) school subject.

The RA MoD informed Peace Dialogue NGO that the review of the textbook of Initial Military Training is also envisaged and the deadline is 2017.

It should be noted that the organization has launched a project aimed at raising the level of awareness of the future conscripts about the mechanisms of the human rights protection in the Armed Forces and the organization is also expecting the Ministry of Defense’s interest because it corresponds to the paragraphs pointed out in Paragraph 31 of the HRP 2017-2019 strategy.

It is noteworthy that the HRP Strategy 2017-2019 has the paragraphs including the subject “Human Rights in the Armed Forces” in curricula of military educational institutions and the creation of mechanisms for the monitoring group functioning in garrison isolation cells (Action 30 and 32).

It should be noted that Peace Dialogue NGO suggested in 2016 to include the mentioned points in the HRP Strategy 2017-2019. In 2016, in response to the announcement posted on the RA Ministry of Defense website inviting non-governmental organizations to send proposals for designing a draft action plan for the period of 2017-2019 stemming from the provisions of the strategy for the protection of Human Rights, Peace Dialogue NGO proposed its own recommendations some of which referred to human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Armed Forces and the activities of the monitoring group on monitoring of garrison isolators.

In our future reports we will provide detailed information on the implementation of the activities of HRP Strategy 2017-2019.

2. Representatives of various faiths and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the RA Armed Forces

In our previous report we already touched upon the religious organizations, their representatives as well as the freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the RA Armed Forces. Recently, issues related to these topics are often raised by non-governmental human rights organizations: human rights defenders express concern over the fact that the Armenian Apostolic Church has a privileged status in the Armed Forces. 

“The efforts of His Holiness to cultivate spiritual values in the army have given their results. Our clergymen play a great role in the army both as army psychologists and as senior friends who stand next to our soldiers. If we have to continue to strengthen that institution, we will definitely strengthen it.”

Vigen Sargsyan, Armenian Defense Minister

On October 11, on the initiative of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security parliamentary hearings  on New Legislative Regulations on Conscription and Military Service were held in the RA NA Session Hall. During the hearings the RA MoD Minister Vigen Sargsyan expressed his position  on the issue. He stated that he did not see any problems with the fact that the Armenian Apostolic Church carries out spiritual service in the RA Armed Forces and that the Apostolic Church will continue its activities in the military units.

In response to the issues raised by the civil society representatives over the fact that several cases were recorded when soldiers who are atheists or members of other religions in Armenia were forced to attend religious rites of Armenian Apostolic Church or say prayers, the Minister promised to examine those cases, if human rights activists are ready to disclose the information sources.

Illustration: Main objectives of the spiritual service are to introduce Bible, New Testament and main principles of Christianity to the staff of the ARM Armed Forces as well as educate them with Christian moral principles and national patriotic spirit

“Good for them, they are doing the right thing, it is not a violation of rights. They are preaching neither fornication nor erotica. It is very nice that they [schoolchildren and soldiers] start the day with a prayer, we should do it in the Parliament too. We should have our spiritual awakening everywhere. There should be more lessons on our church history.”

The statement made by the spokesman for the ruling Republican party and the deputy Speaker of the RA National Assembly showed that in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia the soldiers are forced to pray irrespective of whether or not they relate to a certain religion or faith and that the Armenian authorities are not only aware of this situation but all this is happening with their blessing.

According to the research data of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office, clergymen have been exempt from military service or received deferment by the RA Government decisions since 1998.

Currently the human right defenders are concerned that given the “special” status of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the armed forces and the New Legislative Regulations on Conscription and Military Service which allows the government to release soldiers from service or give deferment, the Government will continue sponsoring the Armenian Apostolic Church’s spiritual servants by releasing them from their duties of ensuring the security of the country.

3. The number of fatalities in the RA and NK armed forces for January-September 2017

Click to Zoom

Due to the continuous monitoring carried out by Peace Dialogue NGO over the death cases recorded in the RA Armed Forces, the organization has received information about 10 fatalities recorded within the period July-September 2017.

The organization has received information about 45 fatalities in total for the period January-September 2017: 19 fatalities were recorded in Armenia, and 26 fatalities in Nagorno Karabakh. Causes of the fatalities: 4 murder cases, 8 suicide cases, 20 ceasefire regime violations, 5 fatal incidents, 2 cases are the result of negligence, 2 cases are the result of health issues, 2 cases are the result of safety rules violations, and 2 death cases the causes of which are unknown yet.

See Infographic 1: The number of fatalities in the RA and NK Armed Forces for the period January -September 2017.

4. Information related to the investigation of private soldier Davit Terteryan’s death case

The body of private soldier  was found with a mortal gunshot wound in the forehead on February 18, 2016 in a combat post of N military unit. The official hypothesis of the death is suicide. 

The criminal case report reads that Davit Terteryan, after completing his duties of a day shift, at approximately 1:10p.m., shot himself in the forehead while on the watchtower. The successors of the aggrieved party and their representative, Peace Dialogue expert R. Martirosyan do not agree with this hypothesis.

On April 18, 2017, the deputy head of the first garrison Investigative Department S. Baghdasaryan dismissed the criminal case on the grounds of absence of a possible criminal cause.

The aggrieved party appealed the verdict.

On June 8, 2017 First Garrison Military Prosecutor N. Gabrielyan  rejected  the complaint of the aggrieved party and stated that the case was dismissed and there are no grounds for eliminating the decision of dismissal.

Whereas on 21 June 2017, Military Prosecutor V. Haroutyunyan made a decision to satisfy the aggrieved party’s motion and eliminated the investigator’s unlawful decision for dismissing the case. He even pointed out that the prosecutor made an “unlawful and ungrounded decision”.

The reason why the aggrieved party’s complaint was satisfied was that the preliminary investigative body failed to adequately assess a number of factual circumstances by not implementing its positive obligations under the law. It should be noted that the legal assessment of these circumstances could have changed the suicide hypothesis put forward by the investigative unit.

Unfortunately, by eliminating the decision of dismissing the case, the Military Prosecutor not only did not punish his subordinates for unlawful acts, but appointed the additional investigation to the same garrison again.

Based on the foregoing, the aggrieved party challenged the first garrison division, the first garrison military prosecutor’s office  and motioned for the investigation of the case to be appointed to another investigative body.

5. Information related to the investigation of private soldiers Grigor Avetisyan’s and Souren Aramyan’s death cases

According to the preliminary investigation, based on the phone-book brought to the RA IC 5th garrison investigative division on April 6, 2016, on April 5, 2016 at about 2:30-3:00 a.m. privates Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan of the RA MoD N28418 military unit received fatal gunshot wounds at the artillery firing range  of the N 75937 unit in unknown circumstances and died immediately. Meanwhile, privates of the same military unit Hakob Gevorgyan and Areg Baghdasaryan received gunshot wounds on the lower limbs. The same day, in the evening private soldier of N 28418 military unit Davit Doumikyan turned himself to the Vardenis Military Police department and confessed that he murdered Avetisyan and Aramyan. However, according to the information that the aggrieved party received, Doumikyan withdrew his confessions and has so far insisted that they were extorted from him.

On March 4, 2017, the investigator of the case S. Sargsyan made a decision to separate criminal case N90150217 from criminal case N90655516 and send case N 90655516 to trial.

Two months later, on May 3, 2017, the aggrieved party was presented with the copy of this decision. After being acquainted with the decision and analyzing it together with the other materials of the criminal case, the aggrieved party found that a false investigation of the case was conducted. Because of that false investigation, the preliminary investigative body brought charges against D. Doumikyan for killing G. Avetisyan. Based on all abovementioned, the aggrieved party finds it necessary to dismiss the decision of separating one case from another case and insists to return to the prosecutor the case N90655516 that was sent to trial. To support this argument the aggrieved party presents a number of reasons:

1. The aggrieved party is convinced that following G. Avetisyan’s murder, the unknown perpetrators transported Avetisyan’s body and placed it in front of the tent. This is evident from both the crime scene record and the case materials: according to the crime scene examination report, no traces of blood were detected either under or near the corpse, whereas the expert conclusion of G. Avetisyan’s body, as well as the forensic ballistic reports state that Avetisyan had lost a lot of blood. According to the expert conclusion of Avetisyan’s corpse, as well as the results of the forensic ballistic and forensic medical examination, Avetisyan lost a large amount of blood. Some part of the blood, 1800ml was found in the chest cavity. Almost the same amount of blood had to be exhausted from G. Avetisyan’s body. Additional evidence is provided by the photographs taken simultaneously with the crime scene investigation. The fact that G. Avetisyan has lost a lot of blood and that a significant part of it has leaked is proven by the examination of the clothes. Thus, after examining G. Avetisyan’s jacket, the expert points out that 43,5×27 cm absorbed blood trace was found on the reverse side of the jacket and 40×24 cm on the outside and the blood belongs to Avetisyan. The expert found 67x41cm absorbed blood trace on the right front part of the jacket through the right back side of the jacket. However, as we have noted, according to the examination report, no traces of blood were detected either near or under the corps.
2. Based on the expert examination report, during the examination of the crime scene 4 bullet shells were found fired from the rifle attached to Sashik Arakelyan. Throughout the whole investigation the investigators failed to answer 2 questions how S. Arakelyan’s rifle ended up in the crime scene and who fired from the rifle. According to the investigation report of the crime scene, based on the locations of the 22 bullet shells confiscated during that examination, their packaging numbers and expert opinion it becomes clear that the 4 bullet shells fired from Sashik Arakelyan’s rifle were found in front of the tent. The aggrieved party is also convinced that G. Avetisyan was murdered by the gunshots fired from that same rifle and the criminal case files also prove this. However, the preliminary investigative body, by separating from the criminal case the part referring to G. Avetisyan’s death and sending it to trial, failed to find out how the rifle ended up in the first firing point and who fired gunshots: according to the document “List of names” of the first artillery battery, Sashik Arakelyan was on a leave when the incident happened and returned only 3 days later.
3. In an additional testimony F.Hovhannisyan informed that in the evening of the incident an argument broke out between Vardges Margaryan and Grigor Avetisyan. Captain R. Hakobyan commanded them to stop the dispute. After that M. Margaryan threatened G. Avetisyan that it was not over and he was going to talk to him later. No investigation was carried out in connection with that  incident, neither the soldiers at the base who were witnesses of the incident nor witness Hakobyan were questioned. Moreover, it was not revealed how the dispute between V.Margaryan and G. Avetisyan developed further  which could possibly be one of the causes of the murder.
4. According to D. Doumikyan’s testimony 3 conflicts occurred after the midnight. The first conflict was between G. Avetisyan and S. Aramyan over Hakob Gevorgyan. The cause of the second conflict according to Doumikyan was that Aveitsyan burnt Mamud Avdalyan’s leg. Doumikyan also testified that there was a clash between Avdalyan and Avetisyan in the past in the military unit. Only the interested parties of the incident Gevorgyan and Avdalyan were questioned and said that there was no conflict in the past. The witnesses of the incident were not questioned.
5. In an additional testimony Avdalyan mentioned that following the incident he got a permission from Captain Hakobyan and did not leave the tent and did not participate in the circular defense because he was afraid of darkness. According to the case documents, after the gunfire captain Hakobyan ordered everyone to turn to circular defense. The witness testified that following the incident he did not fire from his rifle and that the rifle was always with him. However, according to Weapon Arms Recording protocol, one bullet was missing from his rifle magazine. According to the expert examination report ashot was fired from his rifle, therefore M. Avdalyan was lying. However, the investigators failed to investigate this contradiction and to find out where and in which circumstances Avdalyan fired from the rifle, or if it was not him who did that.
6. In his testimony F. Hovhannisyan pointed out that he did not shoot during the circular defense because he knew that no enemy group had penetrated their position. However, in the Rifles and Sub-pockets protocol it is mentioned that the investigator confiscated F. Hovhannisyan’s rifle and the sub-pocket and recorded that two bullets were missing from the storage boxes of the sub-pockets.

That and other contradictions in the criminal case force the aggrieved party to be skeptical about the results of the preliminary investigation and to demand that N 90655516 criminal case that was sent to trial to be sent back to the prosecutor.

6. Update on the court case of the death of Private Manuchar Manucharyan

By the end of July, 2017 the trial of Manuchar Manucharyan’s case was over and the parties passed to the phase of the judicial speeches. The prosecutor stated that in the second expert conclusion the experts left all the opinions regarding the case unchanged as stated in the first one, that is M. Manucharyan committed suicide, and therefore, there is a causal link between Manuchar’s suicide and the actions of the perpetrators Gaboyan and Stepanyan charged with the case. In the end, the prosecutor suggested to imprison defendant Gaboyan for 8 and Stepanyan for 7.5 years.

In his speech the representative of the victim’s successor, R. Martirosyan touched upon some of the important omissions in the case.

1. The deliberate murder was qualified as a suicide and in order to prove this false hypothesis of the prosecutor correct a criminal investigation was carried out: false testimonies were extorted from key witness Libik Mkrtchyan, as well as from other servicemen. This has been proven by trial.
2. Before charges were brought against Gaboyan and Stepanyan, with request of the preliminary investigative body M. Manucharyan’s former classmate Lilit was taken to the Military Police department twice. She was forced to give false testimonies that allegedly M. Manucharyan was in love with her and after learning that Lilit was planning to marry someone else, committed suicide. However, Lilit was brave enough and refused to give false testimonies. She later told about all this to the representative of the victim’s successor. M. Manucharyan’s brother O. Manucharyan also referred to this in his testimony after which the parties motioned for Lilit to be subpoenaed to court. According to them that would provide clarifications whether the activities of the preliminary investigative body were within the law or not, however the Judge rejected this motion.
3. M. Manucharyan’s fingerprints were not found on M. Manucharyan’s rifle, which was recognized as an evidence, although the investigators considered proven that he committed suicide with that same rifle. The investigators haven’t carried out any investigation in this direction and haven’t tried to find out who erased the fingerprints from the weapon.
4. The aggrieved party’s major evidence since the beginning of the trial has been the 5mm diameter hole found on Manucharyan’s trousers with a burnt trace around it. This fact is a clear proof that it was a murder but the expert, after examining the trousers, mentioned that allegedly there was no such hole found on them.  Based on the testimony of the expert he did not carry out an examination of the trousers. The fact of the crime is already obvious: the expert did not examine the trousers, however in the examination report he mentioned that he had allegedly done it and no such trace was found on them. It becomes clear that M. Manucharyan’s trousers were not subjected to actual substantive examination. It should be noted that all the reports of crime by the aggrieved party remained unanswered.

Judge Mkertchyan also rejected the aggrieved party’s motion to send the trousers for examination. In his decision of rejection, the presiding Judge also mentioned that he will refer to this contradiction when making the verdict in the decision-room.

According to the victim’s successors this decision of the Judge is simply nonsense since Judge Mkrtchyan is not an expert and he cannot determine in the decision-room what the mentioned damage on the trousers is, whether it is a mechanical damage or it was the result of gunshot.

In his speech R. Martirosyan announced that the verdict of acquittal for two defendants in the case is acceptable for the aggrieved party because they did not commit any crime. 

On August 30, 2017 court read the verdict. We will refer to it in our next report.

7. Update on the court case of the death of Private Haroutyun Hambaryan

As we have mentioned in our previous reports, the court issued two decisions connected with the death case of H. Hambaryan both in favor of the aggrieved party and considered to be proven that a biased and incomplete investigation had been carried out. 

The representative of the victim’s successor, expert R. Martirosyan believes that these decisions should have provided basis for not returning the case that was removed from suspension to the mentioned investigators and not instructing the case to Prosecutor Aghabekyan.

Given the circumstances when the case was again returned to the same investigative group, which as we have mentioned earlier carried out an incomplete and biased investigation, the aggrieved party had no choice but to:

1. challenge the investigative group and the prosecutor of the case, as well as to petition for the investigation to be assigned to another investigative body,
2. motioned for a forensic trace examination of H.Habamryan’s clothes to be carried out, which has not been carried out so far although this is a necessity in the case: the ballistic examination showed that there were some mechanical damages found on the clothes, which indicates use of violence against Hambaryan before the murder. During the preliminary investigation, it was necessary to find out the nature of these mechanical injuries, their origin and limitation, which would once again question the hypothesis proposed by the prosecution.
3. The aggrieved party also appealed for re-qualifying the case under Article 104 of the Criminal Code, that is a deliberate murder: in the investigation of the case under the article of suicide, the preliminary investigative body did not find anyone guilty and dropped the case, concluding that the investigation with the suicide hypothesis had already been exhausted itself.

All the motions of the aggrieved party were rejected by the preliminary investigative body. The victim’s successors are convinced that the investigation of the case continues with an irrational hypothesis of a “suicide”.

8. The Administrative Court rejected Peace Dialogue’s request to force the Ministry of Defense to provide information to the Organization

In July, 2017 The RA Administrative Court, presided over by Judge Armen Dilanyan rejected Peace Dialogue’s case that demanded administrative charges brought against then Defense Minister S. Ohanyan under Article 189.7 of the RA Criminal Code.

In April, the same court, presided over by Judge Karen Zarikyan rejected another lawsuit filed by Peace Dialogue NGO against the RA Ministry of Defense requesting that the ministry provides official information on the death of soldiers for the period of 1994-2014, including the full names of the deceased soldiers, the location of the incidents, the dates, the unit numbers, the respective unit commander’s full names and ranks, the cause of death and a brief description of the incident. After applying to the Ministry of Defense to receive the above-mentioned information, the organization filed a lawsuit requesting to compel the Minister of Defense to provide the requested information and demanded administrative charges brought against then Defense Minister S. Ohanyan.

A court decision was made to temporarily suspend the hearing of these lawsuits since the final decision was connected with a court decision that was to be made over another lawsuit filed by Peace Dialogue which challenged the legitimacy of the classification of secret information as described in Section 17, Point 42 and 43 of the list provided by Executive Order N9 of the then Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and to partially annul the executive order. After being rejected in all the court instances the case was dismissed and again rejected.

Download Quarterly Report on the Human Rights Situation in the Armenian Armed Forces/Vol.5 (Version: pdf, 381 kB)

Following the previous quarterly report, as a result of the observations carried out by Peace Dialogue NGO 10 fatalities were recorded between July-September 2017. Since January 2017 Peace Dialogue NGO received information about 45 deaths in the armed forces: 19 cases were recorded in Armenia and 26 cases were recorded in the Nagorno Karabakh.

In the mentioned period the organization received information about 4 murder cases, 8 suicide cases, 20 cases that were the result of ceasefire regime violation, two cases that were the result of negligence, health problems and safety rules and two more cases the cause of which is yet unknown.

 Ceasefire regime violation

Garik Vardanyan  (January 15, Tavush region)

On January 15, 2017, at approximately 11:35 p.m. soldier Garik Vardanyan (Born in 1996) died

 in the Yerevan Central Military Hospital. He was seriously wounded on December 29, 2016 by the adversary.

The Azerbaijani troops had attempted a subversive penetration into the state border, in the south-east of the village of Chinari, Armenia’s Tavush province. As a result Senior Lieutenant Shavarsh Melikyan, privates Edgar Narayan and Erik Abovyan. 

 Andranik Musikyan (18 January, NK)

Karen Ulubabyan  (22 January, NK)

Gor Gareginyan (6 February, NK)

Gegham Manukyan  (8 February, NK)

Nver Babajanyan (1 March, NK)

Narek Harutyunyan ( 24 March, NK)

Artak Rafaelyan  (28 March, NK)

Gor Hovhannisyan (31 March, NK)

Mher Arzumanyan  (28 April, NK)

Karen Danielyan  (20 May, NK)

Armen Harutyunyan (26 May, NK)

Arayik Matinyan  (16 June, NK)

Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire regime on June 16 at approximately 6:05 p.m. using antitank grenade launchers, as a result of which 3 soldiers of NK army, Arayik Matinyan, Vigen Petrosyan and Vardan Sargsyan (all three of them were born in 1997) received fatal injuries.

Vigen Petrosyan  (16 June, NK)

Vardan Sargsyan (16 June, NK)

Narek Gasparyan  (17 June, NK)

Vazgen Poghosyan (10 July, NK)

Arman Movsisyan  (14 August, NK)

Artak Bisharyan  (27 August, NK)

Seyran Sargsyan (28 September, NK)

Murder Cases

Araik Sargsyan (16 January, NK)

On January 16, in the defense area of one of the units of the NK DA contract soldier Sergeant Arayik Sargsyan received a gunshot wound from another soldier of the same unit as a result of the violation of the rules of handling weapons, reports the Investigative Committee.

“According to preliminary data, the private soldier took the rifle attached to his co-serviceman, partially removed the cartridge and tried to charge the rifle. Then, assuming that the bullet did not enter the cartridge, he pressed the trigger.”- reads the statement of the Investigative Committee.

The soldier was charged under Article 373, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of rules for handling weapons which negligently caused the human death). The soldier was arrested. His name is not mentioned.

Gurgen  Sargsyan (March 1, Yerevan)

Private Gurgen Sargsyan received a gunshot wound in the head on January 16, 2017 at approximately 11:55p.m. in the combat post of N military unit while on military duty and was immediately taken to the military hospital.

The investigation revealed that circumstances of how the soldier got shot. Based on the evidence obtained junior sergeant was charged under Article 373, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him.

Gagik Mesropyan (10 May, Tavush region)

In the early morning of May 10, 2017, compulsory military serviceman, Junior Sergeant Gagik Mesropyan was wounded in the combat position of the N military unit and died on the way to the military hospital.

As a result of a large-scale investigative actions initiated by the 6^th garrison investigative division it was revealed that Mesropyan received the fatal gunshot wounds due to a deliberate gunshot in his direction. The identity of the person who committed the crime was also revealed. It is a soldier (Born in 1997) of the same military unit.

Combined with sufficient evidence obtained the serviceman was charged under Article 104, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him. The preliminary investigation is underway.

Vardan Grigoryan (17 August, Tavush region)

It was reported that on August 17, 2017 at approximately 5:p.m. that a body was foind in a burnt car on Nerkin Karmiraghbyur-Paravakar highway in Tavush region.  The body of Vardan Grigoryan, a 32-year-old resident of the same village, was found in a VAZ 2106 car that turned into ashes.
Another soldier serving in the same unit, S. Lalayan and who also happens to be from the same village as the victim was arrested on suspicion of murdering the contracted soldier.
Under the pressure of undeniable evidence Lalayan clarified some details about the crime to the law-enforcement officials. A few hours prior the murder he left a party with the victim and together with the him they went to Nerkin Karmirgyugh where in a dispute over some family issues he hit numerous blows to V. Grigoryan. Then he put Grigoryan into his own car and pushing the car near the slope and tumbled it down the steep slope and went down the steep slopes and burned the car. A criminal case was initiated at the Tavush Marz Investigation Department and documents will be transferred to the Garrison Investigation Division. Vardan Grigoryan was 32 years old and had one child.

Suicide

Shavarsh Galstyan  (25 January, RA)

According to the official report of the Investigation Committee on January 25 at approximately 8:50a.m. private Shavarsh Gastyan’s body was found in the trench of a combat position on a wooden stamp designed to close the monitor hole. He was found sitting with a gunshot wound to the jaw. At the scene of the incident, he was found with AKM model rifle attached to him and a shell on the floor.

“ Evedince has been obtained that another soldier, who has been appointed as an observer for the same shift, periodically exploited Galstyan and instructed him to “provide” personal services, such as coffee and tea, to wash the dirty dishes to emphasize his apparent advantage. Moreover, he cursed and offended the soldier’s dignity.”-reports the Investigative Committee.

Initially it was mentioned that a criminal case was initiated under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (Causing somebody to commit suicide), however according to the official report of the Investigative Committee, the charges were brought under Article 359 (part 1) of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of relations, prescribed by field manuals, between servicemen not subordinated to each other, expressed in humiliation of the person’s honor and self-esteem, persecution or violence) :

The investigation is underway. Ballistic and forensic examinations have been appointed.

Lernik Osyan (18 February, NK)

On February 18, 2017 at approximately 11:45a.m. in a defense are of a military unit located in the south of the NK DA, temporary soldier Lernik Osyan (Born in 1998) received a fatal gunshot wound in unknown circumstances. An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of the incident. A criminal case was initiated under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (Causing somebody to commit suicide)

Karen Avetisyan (25 April, NK)

An investigation is underway in the second garrison investigation department to find out the circumstances of soldier Karen Avetisyan’s death, the press service of the RA Investigative Committee reports.Private Karen Avetisyan was found dead with a gunshot wound in the chest at approximately 5:00a.m. on April 25, 2017 in the combat position of N military unit.
According to the preliminary data, K. Avetisyan imjured himself from the machine gun attached to him. An investigation was initiated in the third garrison investigation department under Article 110, party 1 of the RA Criminal Code. A preliminary investigation is underway.

MeliK Khachatryan  (1 June, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the fourth garrison unit of Armenia’s General Military Investigative Department into the death of contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan.

The RA IC reports that on June 1, 2017 at approximately 3:30p.m. they received information that contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan (Born in 1981) was found hanged in the warehouse of N military unit of the RA MoD. A letter was also found at the scene.

Grisha Karapetyan (17 June, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department into the death of soldier Grisha Karapetyan.

On May 17, 2017 at approximately 10:30a.m. in the protection area of the N military unit contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan received a fatal gunshot wound. According to the preliminary data obtained by the investigation of the incident and based on the urgent procedural action, contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan shot himself from a gun attached to him.

An investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.

Vardan Melkonyan  (23 July, Yerevan)

On July 23, at approximately 6:30a.m. the body of junior Sergeant Vardan Melkonyan (Born in 1998, Vanadzor m/c), who had voluntarily left his military unit, was found hung in the area of the N military unit of the RA MoD.
A criminal case was initiated in the 4th garrison investigative division under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.
As a result of investigative actions, evidence and facts were obtained that on July 22, 2017 at approximately 11:30p.m. the junior sergeant was subjected to physical violence by a co-serviceman in the N military unit division’s household room.
The co-serviceman was arrested on suspicion of committing an act envisaged by Part 1 of Article 358 of the RA Criminal Code.

Abas Sloyan (13 August, Shirak region)

The body of a temporary soldier of Yezidi origin was found near one of the houses in Hatsik village in Shirak Province.
In an interview with express.am the Arthur Matevosyan, head of village Karmrakar a neighbor village of Hatshik, said that the soldier was from Hatsik. “He ran away from army and came to his village and hanged himself near his house.”Later the RA Investigative Committee issued a statement saying that soldier Abas Sloyan voluntarily left his service post and returned to his home in village Hatsik. His body was found hanging in the auxiliary building of one of the houses on the 14th street of the village.
A criminal case was initiated under Article 110 (Part 1) of the RA Criminal Code (inciting suicide).

Andranik Mkrtchyan (20 August, RA)

26-year old contract soldier, captain Andranik Mkrtchyan went into his office and committed suicide. His body was found on August 20, 2017 at 4:20p.m. in his office with a gunshot wound on the jaw.
A criminal case has been initiated under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (inciting suicide). An investigatino is underway.

Fatal incident

Garegin Minasyan (15 February, RA)

The RA MoD bulldozer rolled into a gorge: one soldier is dead, two other soldiers received injuries. The Investigative body initiated a criminal case over the accident that resulted in the death of the contract soldier. The preliminary investigation is underway.
According to provisional data, on February 16 at approximately 3pm a bulldozer, which belongs to a military unit of the Ministry of Defense (MOD), rolled into a gorge, while clearing the road that leads to the military position of this unit.
As a result, soldiers Garegin Minasyan, Armen Pukha, and Vruyr Nersisyan—who were inside the bulldozer—received injuries.
Contract soldier Garegin Minasyan died en route to the MOD Gegharkunik Garrison Military Hospital. On the same day, Armen Pukhan andVruyr Nersisyan were transferred to the MoD Central Clinical Military Hospital

Ruben Mnacakanyan (8 May, NK)

On May 8, 2017 a fatal incident was occurred in a military unit in the northern direction of the contact line, reported the press service of the Nagorno Karabakh MoD. According to preliminary data as a result of a tragic vehicle accident three soldiers of the NK DA- Ruben Barseghyan (Born in 1998), Rafael Bisharyan (Born in 1997) and Ruben Mnatsakanyan (Born 1998) -were drowned in a reservoir near the military unit. Search and rescue team found  the bodies of two servicemen Ruben Barseghyan and Rafael Bisharyan. The search operation is underway to recover Ruben Mnatsakanyan’s body.

Ruben Barseghyan (8 մ May, NK)

Rafael Bisharyan (8 May, NK)

Hayk Khachatryan (1 September, NK)

On September 1, 2017 at approximately 11:50a.m., at a military unit located to the south-east of the contact line NK MoD soldier Hayk Khachatryan (Born in 1998) was deadly injured in a mine explosion.

Health issues

Armen Tsaturyan (26 April, Yerevan)

On April 26, 2017 at approximately 8:00a.m. the Police Department of Yerevan Nor Nork received a phone call that a man’s body was found in a Nissan March 41XV model car in front of the Ideal store in Nor Nork 5th Block. It was revealed that the deceased man was Armen Tsaturyan, a 31-year-old resident of Yerevan Shopron 1 Lane and an engineer at one of the military subdivisions of the RA Ministry of Defense. According to the forensic doctor, he died of heart attack.

Narek Mkhitaryan  (14 June, NK)

Narek Mkhitrayn had undergone surgery on the neck mid-cyst in Muratsan Military Hospital, but died after the surgery on July 14.

Negligence/ Inaction

Garegin Arghamanyan  (17 February, NK)

On February 17, the body of private Garegin Arghamanyan (Born in 1997), serviceman of the radio platoon of the communication unit ,was found at about 07:30a.m. in the battery charging warehouse of a permanent deployment location of a military base of the NK Defense Army.

According to preliminary data, the serviceman died from carbon monoxide poisoning of the diesel generator emissions.

In the first garrison investigation department a criminal case was initiated under Article 376 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (negligent attitude towards the service, if caused negligently by heavy consequences). An investigation is underway.

Gor Khudikyan (23 February, NK)

According to the preliminary data, on February 23, 2017 at approximately 00:45a.m. in a defense are of N military unit contract soldier, Captain Gor Khudinyan received fatal shrapnel wounds from explosion of a bullet in the gun barrel while he was trying to fire from a machine gun to suppress the fire of the enemy.

The 3^rd garrison investigative division initiated a criminal case under Article 376 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (negligent attitude towards the service, if caused negligently by heavy consequences).

Two deaths were recorded as a result of violation of rules for handling weapons.

Narek Hakwbyan (21 April, Vayots Dzor)

The 8th Garrison Investigative Division of the Military Investigative Department initiated a criminal case over the fatal gunshot wound that contract soldier, private Narek Hakobyan (Born on August 30, 1986) received.

According to the initial data Narek Hakobyan received the fatal gunshot wound on April 21, 2017 at 10:25a.m. during the camp trainings organized in Vayots Dzor: contract soldier of N military unit of the 6th company shot Hakobyan while cleaning his own rifle as a result of breach of rules for handing weapon.

A criminal case initiated under Article 373, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. An investigation is underway.

Arkadi Ghambaryan  (28 July, Tavush region)

A contract soldier was killed on July 28, 2017 in one of the defense posts in Noyemberyan, Tavush region.

33-year old serviceman Arkadi Ghambaryan was from village Karkop, Tavush region: He died of a fatal gunshot wound. It is yet unknown whether the soldier was shot by the adversary.

According to preliminary data the serviceman received fatal injuries on July 28, at 4:40p.m. as a result of violation of rules for handling weapons.

6th garrison investigation division initiated a criminal case under Article 373, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code.

An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of the case.

Over the cause of death of two soldier either no official statement has been made or the organization has not been able to clarify them.

Sargis Apinyan (26 January, RA)

In the 4th garrison investigative division of the RA Investigative Committee an investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of cadet Sargis Apinyan’s death.

According to preliminary information, on January 26, 2017 at approximately 14:20p.m. cadet Sargis Apinyan’s health drastically deteriorated at the drill ground. The serviceman was taken to the military unit’s medical facility, where, however, he died at approximately 5:35pm.

A forensic examination was assigned.

Arshak Arshakyan  (14 May, RA)

On May 14, 2017 at 3:15p.m.  the body of contract soldier, junior Sergeant Arshak Arshakyan was found in the combat post of the RA MoD N military unit with a gunshot wound around the jawline, reports the press service of the RA Investigative Committee.

An investigation is underway in the 9th garrison investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee to find out the circumstances of A. Arshakyan’s death.

Peace Dialogue launched a new project for the future conscripts in Armenia, who will be soon recruited to serve in the Army. The project is called “Promotion of Human Rights Mechanisms among the Future Conscripts in the Armenian Military Forces” and is aimed at raising awareness of the future conscripts about the mechanisms of the human rights protection in the Military Forces and at equipping them with practical skills and instruments that will help them to stand for their rights during the military service. Furthermore, the project intends to encourage relevant state actors (the local authorities, RA Ministry of Defense, RA Ministry of the Science and Education and RA Human Rights Defender’s Office) to contribute their efforts in promotion and protection of human rights and basic freedoms in the Armenian Military Forces.

In the framework of this one-year-long project, Peace Dialogue is planning, inter alia, to develop a manual on human rights in the military forces for the future conscripts. The publication will be submitted to the RA Human Rights Defender’s Office, to the Ministry of the Science and Education and to the Ministry of Defense for their remarks and comments and for their approval to distribute the manual among the Preliminary Military Training (PMT) teachers in the public schools who work directly and on the daily basis with the pre-conscription age schoolchildren.

Through the web resource Dasaran.am (a web portal linking students, parents and school teachers throughout Armenia) the project team will bring the content of the manual to the widest pre-conscription age schoolchildren audience possible. Some of the key elements of the manual will be modified and presented via the online game “I know my rights in the Army” and at the “Encyclopedia” section of Dasaran.am.

For any questions, please contact Artashes Sergoyan at [email protected]
 

The project is supported by The Democracy Commission Small Grants program of the Embassy of the United State of America in Armenia. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the Author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State.

Hereby we present the results of the observations carried out by Peace Dialogue NGO regarding the fatalities in the Armenian and NK Armed Forces between January-June 2017.

In the mentioned period, the organization received information about 36 death cases, 16 of which were the result of ceasefire violation. 15 death cases that were the result of ceasefire violations were recorded in NK while 1 was recorded in Tavush region, Armenia as a result of a subversive penetration attempt last year on December 29 when a soldier was wounded.

Garik Vardanyan (15 January, Tavush region)

Soldier Garik Vardanyan (Born in 1996) died in Yerevan Central Military Hospital on January 15, 2017, at 11:35 p.m. He who was seriously wounded on December 30, 2016 as a result of a subversive penetration act by the enemy. Senior leutenant Shavarsh Melikyan, private soldiers Edgar Narayan and Erik Abovyan were also killed in it.

The Azerbaijani troops

In the state border of South-east from Chinari village of Tavush region of Armenia, Azerbaijani troops have attempted to commit subversive penetration attack. As a result of the same subversive attack senior lieutenant Shavarsh Melikset Melikyan, and private soldiers Edgar Narayan and Erik Abovyan were also killed.

Andranik Musikyan (18 January, NK)

Karen Ulubabyan ( 22 January , NK)

Gor Gareginyan (6 February, NK)

Gegham Manoukyan (8 February, NK)

Nver Babajanyan (1 March, NK)

Narek Harutyunyan (24 March, NK)

Artak Rafayelyan (28 March, NK)

Gor Hovhannisyan ( 31 March, NK)

Mher Arzumanyan ( 28 April, NK)

Karen Danielyan (20 May, NK)

Armen Harutyunyan (26 May, NK)

Arayik Matinyan (16 June, NK)

The servicemen Arayik Matinyan, Vigen Petrosyan and Vardan Sargsyan (all born in 1997), were fatally wounded after the Azerbaijani side opened fire from a rocket-propelled grenade against the military posts of the Defense Army, Nagorno-Karabakh’s Ministry of Defense reports.

Vigen Petrosyan (16 June, NK)

Vardan Sargsyan (16 June, NK)

Narek Gasparyan (17 June, NK)

During the first 6 months PD received information about 5 suicides and 4 murder cases.

Murder cases

Arayik Sargsyan (16 January, NK)

Sargsyan received a fatal gunshot wound from another soldier of that unit as a result of breach of rules for handling weapons, reported the Investigative Committee.

The announcement of the Inivestigative Committee stated: “According to the preliminary informaiton, the private soldier took the rifle that was attached to his co-serviceman, partially took out the ammunition and tried to recharge it, then thinking that no bullet was inserted in the ammunition he pulled the triger. As a result, he fired a shot and soldier S. Sargsyan received a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The later died while being hospitalised. ”

The soldier was charged under Article 373, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of rules for handling weapons which negligently caused the human death). The soldier was arrested. His name is not mentioned.

Gurgen Sargsyan (March 1, Yerevan)

Private Gurgen Sargsyan received a gunshot wound in the head on January 16, 2017 at approximately 11:55p.m. in the combat post of N military unit while on military duty and was immediately taken to the military hospital.

The investigation revealed that circumstances of how the soldier got shot. Based on the evidence obtained junior sergeant was charged under Article 373, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him.

Narek Isolov (21 March, Vayots Dzor)

A criminal case was initiated over the death of 31-year-old soldier Narek Makobyan who died on April 21, 2017 at approximately 10:25a.m. during the camp trainings in Vayots Dzor, reports the Investigation Committee.

According to the preliminary data, Narek Hakobyan received a fatal sound from a contract soldier junior Sergeant of the 6th company of N military unit as a result of the violation of the rules of handling weapon: the latter shot Hakobyan while cleaning the rifle. The name of the junior sergeant is not mentioned.

Gagik Mesropyan (10 May, Tavush region)

on May 10, 2017 early in the morning temporary soldier, junior sergeant Gagik Mesropyan received a gunshot wound in the combat post of the RA MoD N military unit and died on the way to hospital.

The investigative actions undertaken in the 6^th garrison investigative department revealed that G. Mesropyan received the fatal gunshot wound as a result of intentionally fired shot in his direction. The identity of the offender was revealed: he is a soldier of the same military unit, born in 1997.

Obtained sufficient evidence combination, the soldier charged with article 104 of the Criminal Code, Part 1 of the Criminal Code. A preventive measure of detention.

The sufficient evidence was obtained and the soldier was charged with Article 104, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure.

The investigative is underway.

Suicides

Shavarsh Galstyan (25 January, RA)

According to the official report of the Investigation Committee on January 25 at approximately 8:50a.m. private Shavarsh Gastyan’s body was found in the crusade of a combat position on a wooden stamp designed to close the monitor hole. He was found sited with a gunshot wound to the jaw. At the scene of the incident, he was found with AKM model rifle attached to him and a shell on the floor.

“ Evedince has been obtained that another soldier, who has been appointed as an observer for the same shift, periodically exploited Galstyan and instructed him to “provide” personal services, such as coffee and tea, to wash the dirty dishes to emphasize his apparent advantage. Moreover, he cursed and offended the soldier’s dignity.”-reports the Investigative Committee.

Initially it was mentioned that a criminal case was initiated under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (Causing somebody to commit suicide), however according to the official report of the Investigative Committee, the charges were brought under Article 359 (part 1) of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of relations, prescribed by field manuals, between servicemen not subordinated to each other, expressed in humiliation of the person’s honor and self-esteem, persecution or violence) :

The investigation is underway. Ballistic and forensic examinations have been appointed.

Lernik Osyan (18 February, NK)

On February 18, 2017 at approximately 11:45a.m. in a defense area of a military unit located in the south of the NK DA, temporary soldier Lernik Osyan (Born in 1998) received a fatal gunshot wound. An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of the incident. A criminal case was initiated under Article 110 for causing somebody to commit suicide.

Karen Avetisyan (25 April, NK)

An investigation is underway in the second garrison investigation department to find out the circumstances of soldier Karen Avetisyan’s death, the press service of the RA Investigative Committee reports.Private Karen Avetisyan was found dead with a gunshot wound in the chest at approximately 5:00a.m. on April 25, 2017 in the combat position of N military unit.

According to the preliminary data, K. Avetisyan imjured himself from the machine gun attached to him. An investigation was initiated in the third garrison investigation department under Article 110, party 1 of the RA Criminal Code. A preliminary investigation is underway.
All necessary investigative actions are underway to ensure comprehensive, full and objective investigation of the case. Expert examinations have been appointed.

Melik Khachatryan (1 June, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the fourth garrison unit of Armenia’s General Military Investigative Department into the death of contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan.

The RA IC reports that on June 1, 2017 at approximately 3:30p.m. they received information that contract soldier, Subaltern Melik Khachatryan (Born in 1981) was found hanged in the warehouse of N military unit of the RA MoD. A letter was also found in the at the scene. A forensic examination was appointed and all necessary measures are taken to ensure a comprehensive investigation of the circumstances of M. Khachatryan’s death.

Grisha Karapetyan (June 17, RA)

Investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department into the death of soldier Grisha Karapetyan.

Earlier we had informed that on May 17, 2017 at approximately 10:30a.m. in the combat of the N military unit protection area contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan received a fatal gunshot wound. According to preliminary data obtained by the investigation of the incident and as a result of urgent procedural action contract soldier Grisha Karapetyan shot himself from a gun attached to him.

An investigation has been launched in the 5th Military Garrison Investigation Division of the General Investigation Department under Article 110, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.

For soldiers were killed in two fatal accidents recorded within the last six months.

Garegin Minasyan (15 February, RA)

The RA MoD bulldozer rolled into a gorge: one soldier is dead, two other soldiers received injuries. The Investigative body initiated a criminal case over the accident that resulted in the death of the contract soldier. The preliminary investigation is underway.

According to provisional data, on February 16 at approximately 3pm a bulldozer, which belongs to a military unit of the Ministry of Defense (MOD), rolled into a gorge, while clearing the road that leads to the military position of this unit.

As a result, soldiers Garegin Minasyan, Armen Pukha, and Vruyr Nersisyan—who were inside the bulldozer—received injuries.

Contract soldier Garegin Minasyan died en route to the MOD Gegharkunik Garrison Military Hospital. On the same day, Pukha and Nersisyan were transferred to the MOD Central Clinical Military Hospital

Ruben Mnatsakanyan (8 May, NK)

In the morning of May 8, 2017 in one of the military units located to the north of Defense Army a fatal incident was recorded, reported the NK Defense Ministry.

According to the initial data, as a result of a tragic vehicle accident three soldiers of the NK DA- Ruben Barseghyan (Born in 1998), Rafael Bisharyan (Born in 1997) and Ruben Mnatsakanyan (Born 1998) -were drowned in a reservoir near the military unit. After the searching operations, the bodies of two servicemen-Ruben Barseghyan and Rafael Bisharyan were found. The searh operation is underway to recover Ruben Mnatsakanyan’s body. An investigation is underway to find out the details of the accident.

Ruben Barseghyan (8 May, NK)

Rafayel Bisharyan (8 May, NK)

Two soldiers died as a result of health issues.

Armen Tsaturyan (26 April, Yerevan)

On April 26, 2017 at approximately 8:00a.m. the Police Department of Yerevan Nor Nork received a phone call that a man’s body was found in a Nissan March 41XV model car in front of the Ideal store in Nor Nork 5th Block. It was revealed that the deceased man was Armen Tsaturyan, a 31-year-old resident of Yerevan Shopron 1 Lane and an engineer at one of the military subdivisions of the RA Ministry of Defense. According to the forensic doctor, he died of heart attack.

Narek Mkhitaryan (14 June, NK)

The parents of 21-year-old Narek Mkhitaryan, a contract soldier who died in a military hospital on June 14, 2017 do not complain and are not dissatisfied with the doctors. The day before Narek had undergone surgery on the neck mid-cyst, but died after the surgery.

The neglected attitude towards the military service may also cause death. The official versions of two death cases were mentioned to be negligent attitude towards military service.

Garegin Argamanyan (17 February, NK)

The body of private Garegin Argamanyan, serviceman of the radio platoon of the communication unit, was discovered around 7:30  on February 17, in the battery charging warehouse of a permanent deployment location of a military base of the Defense Army.

According to initial reports, the Private died as result of carbon monoxide poisoning of the diesel generator.

A criminal case was launched under Article 376, Part 2 on causing severe consequences by negligence.

An investigation is underway.

Gor Khudinyan (23 February, NK)

Contract soldier Gor Khudinyan (Born in 1991) received a fatal gunshot wound in yet unknown circumstances on February 23, 2017 at approximately 00:45a.m. in a military unit located in the northern direction of the NK Defense Army, the press service of the NK DA reports.

An investigation is underway in the third garrison investigative division to find out the circumstances of contract soldier Gor Khudinyan’s death.

According to the preliminary data, on February 23, 2017 at approximately 00:45a.m. in a defense are of N military unit contract soldier, Captain Gor Khudinyan received fatal shrapnel wounds from explosion of a bullet in the gun barrel while he was trying to fire from a machine gun to suppress the fire of the enemy.

An investigation was initiated in the third garrison investigative division under Article 376, part 2 of the RA Criminal Code (negligent attitude to military service, if they negligently caused grave consequences)

An investigation is underway

All necessary investigative measures are taken to ensure a full and objective investigation.

1 death was recorded as a result of violation of rules for handling weapons.

Narek Hakobyan  (21 April, Vayots Dzor)

The 8th Garrison Investigative Division of the Military Investigative Department initiated a criminal case over the fatal gunshot wound that contract soldier, private Narek Hakobyan (Born on August 30, 1986) received.

According to the initial data Narek Hakobyan received the fatal gunshot wound on April 21, 2017 at 10:25a.m. during the camp trainings organized in Vayots Dzor: contract soldier of N military unit of the 6th company shot Hakobyan while cleaning his own rifle as a result of breach of rules for handing weapon.

A criminal case initiated under Article 373, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. An investigation is underway.

An official statement on the cause of the death of two servicemen has not been made yet or the organization has not been able to clarify them.

Sargis Apinyan (26 January, RA)

In the 4th garrison investigative division of the RA Investigative Committee an investigation is underway to find out the circumstances of cadet Sargis Apinyan’s death.

According to preliminary information, on January 26, 2017 at approximately 14:20p.m. cadet Sargis Apinyan’s health drastically deteriorated at the drill ground. The serviceman was taken to the military unit’s medical facility, where, however, he died at around approximately 5:35pm.

A forensic examination was assigned.

Arshak Arshakyan  (14 May, RA)

On May 14, 2017 at 3:15p.m.  the body of contract soldier, junior Sergeant Arshak Arshakyan was found in the combat post of the RA MoD N military unit with a gunshot wound around the jawline, reports the press service of the RA Investigative Committee.

An investigation is underway in the 9th garrison investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee to find out the circumstances of A. Arshakyan’s death.