Defense Ministry spokesman responds to HRD’s statement

On his Facebook page, spokesman for Armenia’s Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisian responded today to the statement of Human Rights Defender Karen Andriasian. A. Hovhannisian particularly wrote:

“We are grateful to the Ombudsman for his concern about this issue and we would like to remind him that the Defense Ministry always stated about its readiness to hold transparent discussions of all problems and has repeatedly initiated such discussions. The Defense Ministry has been and will be an initiator of hearings on the indicated issues with the participation of all interested parties and structures. We organize such hearings regarding each of all the indicated issues because they require detailed discussions, rather than general conclusions. Such discussions already took place in the National Assembly and will henceforth be held at the Defense Ministry as well”.

We would remind you that today Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia Karen Andriasian issued a statement in connection with a tragic incident in a military unit in Noyemberian region, which left a conscript dead and another injured. The HRD proposed that the defense minister should submit an annual report to the National Assembly about observance of human rights in the army, particularly about the causes of deaths, provision of medical services, acts of violence among servicemen, as well as the ministry’s actions to change the situation and the results.