Only impartial investigation can prevent further acts of violence

The Office of Military Prosecutor issued a statement in connection with the creation of a working group for investigation of deaths in the Armenian armed forces and sent an invitation to the representative of the Human Rights Defender to participate in the group’s work.

As early as 2011, the Ombudsman proposed that the National Assembly of Armenia should set up a working group to examine the criminal cases into fatal incidents in Armenia’s armed forces, taking into account the political weight and neutral position of the National Assembly in solution of such difficult problems. At that time the parliamentary deputies Samvel Nikoyan, Aram Safarian, Hrayr Karapetian, and Larisa Alaverdian, later also representatives of the Military Prosecutor’s Office were included in the working group. Unfortunately, the initiative of the respective commission was not brought to a logical conclusion.

According to the Armenian Ombudsman Office, the Military Prosecutor’s Office currently plans to investigate those criminal cases, regarding which final decisions were made after January 1, 2011, while there are many complaints today to investigate fatal incidents that occurred as early as 2001.

Omissions were committed during the investigations into those incidents and the trust of the dead servicemen’s relatives and society in investigation results leaves much to be desired. The ombudsman is convinced that only a complete and impartial investigation of previous incidents, even those which occurred ten years ago, and restoration of justice can ensure trust in the investigation of fatal incidents and prevent further murders and acts of violence.

The initiative of the Military Prosecutor’s Office to set up a working group for investigation of criminal cases into fatal incidents in Armenia’s armed forces is a positive one. Nevertheless, the Ombudsman is prepared to include its representative in the working group,

1. if the working group examines the criminal cases, regarding which final decisions were made after January 1, 2011,
2. if the format of the working group’s activities is determined by the working group itself,
3. if it is clearly specified what legal consequences the working group’s decisions will have and how much the proposals of experts of NGOs will be taken into account.