Every soldier’s death in the Armenian military forces is a subject of serious discussion in all OSCE member states. Human rights advocate Artur Sakunts said this during a conversation with Aravot.am. In his words, “They ask our authorities serious questions and every murder case remains on the agenda.”
In Artur Sakunts’s words, Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, expressed concerns in regard to the death cases in the army. “He is worried about the evidence on the death cases and inappropriate investigation. Probably, till spring, till the end of his office the commissioner will organize discussions.”
The human rights advocate said that the number of death cases in the army in 2011 has increased compared to 2011, “All methods of struggle are inefficient, there is no real supervision. They have not approved the rules of conduct so far. There is no principle of law that would forbid criminals to serve in the army after undergoing punishment. Many criminals serving in our army bring bad culture, habits there.”
Mr. Sakunts also mentioned that trials related to death cases last for years as a rule and few cases reach the European Court of Human Rights, “People do not appeal to the Court of Appeals after the trial court, they give up disappointedly. Many cases do not even enter the trial court, because years are needed for just finishing the preliminary investigation, for example, the Martuni case of July 2011 is not finished yet.”
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Arpine SIMONYAN
