Rights defenders draw attention to growth of non-combat losses in Armenian Army

Armenian authorities would not bear responsibility for worsened situation with non-combat losses in the military units of the Armenian Army, and are hiding them, the participants in the discussion held in Yerevan have stated. In their opinion, the cooperation of the army leadership with the civil society can solve the problem.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 11, a soldier was killed in a military unit in Armenia and two others were wounded in a shootout.

Armenian authorities fail to reform the Army, which could solve the problem of non-combat losses, Zhanna Alexanyan, the head of the organization "Journalists for Human Rights", has stated. According to her story, over the past two years, the army non-combat losses have reached the level of the 1990s.

She believes that one of the main reasons for non-combat losses is the atmosphere of impunity and the criminal morals that reign there.

During the last month alone after the appointment of a new Defence Minister, there were four soldiers' deaths, Ms Alexanyan has added.

Edgar Khachatryan, the head of the NGO "Peace Dialogue", agrees with the opinion that authorities would not like to bear responsibility not only for combat but also for non-combat losses.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) perceives the civil society as an enemy, while in democratic countries authorities are interested in solving problems and attract activists to find solutions, Mr Khachatryan has added, noting that despite the authorities' promises to investigate the army non-combat losses, the case hasn't got off the ground.