It is proposed to extend the term of activity of the Inquiry Committee of the National Assembly established for the purpose of investigating the circumstances of the military operations unleashed on 27 September 2020 for another six months.
The Chair of the Investigative Committee, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan introduced the activity of the Committee: the Committee requested and received 4,154 secret and top secret text and graphic documents with a volume of more than 14,000 pages, which are still being carefully studied by the deputies and experts of the Committee. Current and former military and political high-ranking officials were and are being invited. Many war participants, relatives of the casualties have applied to the Committee, and they also present a lot of information and video materials to the Committee. According to Andranik Kocharyan, there is need to apply to the relevant structures for the purpose of additional investigation, to receive and study new documents. It is proposed to extend the activity of the Committee because of this.
The NA deputies Gegham Nazaryan, Arpine Davoyan, Vahagn Aleksanyan and Artsvik Minasyan spoke about the activity of the Committee and its effectiveness. The issue of the opposition’s participation in the work of the Committee was addressed.
Presenting the viewpoint of Armenia Faction, Artsvik Minasyan opined that the NA Defense and Security Standing Committee cannot clarify these issues and presented justifications. The Inquiry Committee must investigate the war that took place during the government period of the current political power in Armenia, while the Inquiry Committee is currently headed by a representative of the political power. According to him, there is a conflict of interests, the Committee with its workload, material and human resources cannot properly carry out the work of that volume. Apart from the participation of the ruling and opposition forces of Parliament, Artsvik Minasyan highlighted the involvement of the representatives of Artsakh, the Human Rights Defender (HRD), and extra-parliamentary political forces in the work of the Committee.
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In his final speech and while presenting the viewpoint of the NA Civil Contract Faction, Andranik Kocharyan reminded that a similar mechanism was also used during the investigation of the March 1 cases.
Agreeing with Artsvik Minasyan’s viewpoint that it is important to ensure an atmosphere of trust in the work of the Inquiry Committee, Andranik Kocharyan stated that we should create that atmosphere together.
The Deputy also touched upon the amendment provided for in the NA Rules of Procedure law, by which liability will be defined in case of failure to attend the sitting of the Inquiry Committee.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
