The below mentioned human rights advocacy NGOs had issued a statement on September 6, 2011 expressing their concern about the current plight in the Armenian Army, in particular the occurrences of violence and deaths. The following claims had been laid to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Armenia expecting him to take active measures within a month's time to settle the problems.

- Have a detailed study conducted on the proceedings of criminal cases on violence against and deaths of servicemen, including murders and suicides from 1994 to present in order to disclose the flaws and violations committed by the pre-investigation and investigation agencies by involving independent experts and representatives of interested NGOs.

- Ensure guarantees in order to call to criminal liability all the officials who bore the responsibility for the process of investigation of the criminal cases and illegalities.

- Take concrete measures to stop hazing and unhealthy atmosphere in the armed forces through processing legislative proposals and involving representatives of the public concerned.

- Provide immediate, proper and decent compensation for the moral and material damages caused to the families of the servicemen who died in non combat situation in the Armenian army.

We have noted the following measures taken so far since issuance of the statement,

- Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia held two close door meetings with the participation of the Ministry of Defense, Military Prosecutor's Office, Human Rights Defender, OSCE Office in Yerevan, Public Council adjacent to the Defense Minister, human rights advocacy organizations, and the relatives of the deceased servicemen.

- Individual meetings were organized with the relatives of the deceased servicemen by the representatives of the Ministry of Defense.

- Representatives of the related structures participated in "Situation in the Armenian Military" Stakeholder's Roundtable organized by "Army in Reality" initiative group and presented their standpoints on the situation in the army.

- Armenian Government made a decision to increase 21 percent the rates of allowance granted to the families of the deceased servicemen to approximately 10.000 - 12.100 AMD.

- Defense Minister made a statement referring the need to increase the internal discipline level in the armed forces

- Servicemen responsible for the car accident on October 3 resulting in deaths during a camp gathering in Baghramian educational center incurred penalty, several high ranking officers were dismissed, others received reprimands.

- Defense Minister and Military Prosecutor came to an agreement to set up a working group with an aim to promote discipline, reduce crime level, prevent crime, and strengthen responsibility by a joint order also assisted by the Human Rights Defender.

At the same time, some representatives of the Ministry of Defense attempted to persuade the relatives of the deceased servicemen to refuse staging public protests against murders committed in the army. On September 21 during Armenia's Independence Day celebration, the law enforcement bodies forcibly hindered the protest demonstration held by the killed servicemen's relatives and public activists.

We believe that the abovementioned steps taken by relevant government structures in the given period are insufficient - little, if anything - to settle the existing problems - to stem the incidents of violence and deaths in the army, and the pressures exerted on the family members of the deceased servicemen give raise to doubts in the political will and commitment to address the problems.

Besides, we state that the commander-in-chief did not voice his public position on the current state of affairs and the issues raised by us to date. The public is also unaware of any concrete steps taken by him in this regard.

By analyzing such behavior, we consider that the Commander-in-Chief Serzh Sargsyan does not duly perceive the pressing issue to improve the situation in the army and does not feel his direct responsibility in it. It is meaningless to expect drastic improvements from him, and therefore we demand his immediate resignation,

Signatories

Artur Sakunts, "Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office" NGO
Natalia Martirosyan, "Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Armenian Committee" NGO
Zhanna Aleksanyan, "Reporters for Human Rights" NGO
Seda Melikyan, "Lawyers for Human Rights" NGO
Levon Barseghyan, "'Asparez' Journalists' Club" NGO
Sona Ayvazyan, "Transparency International Anti-corruption Center" NGO
Isabella Sargsyan, "Youth for Democracy" NGO
Lala Aslikyan, "Huys" NGO