The HCA Vanadzor office denies the Prosecutor General and Pashinyan:  the lowest mortality rate in the army was recorded in 2013

ArmInfo. The Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly has responded to a statement by the country's Prosecutor General's Office regarding an unprecedented  reduction in mortality in the Armed Forces.

So, according to a message received by ArmInfo, it is recalled that  the office has been collecting and analyzing information on deaths in  the ranks of the country's armed forces since 2010 and divides them  into two groups - death as a result of a ceasefire violation and the  rest.

Touching the statistics provided by the Prosecutor General's Office  to reduce mortality in the Armed Forces by 22% compared with the  previous year, the office decided to present their data.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia distributed a  message stating that in 2019, 20 servicemen of the Armenian Armed  Forces and the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army were killed while  serving, and another 29 deaths were not related to serving. The  number of dead military personnel compared with 2018 decreased by  22%. In 2018, according to the data of the Prosecutor General's  Office of Armenia, 38 servicemen of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh died  while serving, another 25 deaths were not related to military  service. From January to June 2019, according to the supervisory  authority, 11 soldiers were killed while serving, another 18 deaths  were not related to military service. "In 2019, 49 soldiers of the  armed forces of Armenia and the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh  died, while in 2018 the number of such deaths was 63. Thus, the  number of deaths in 2019 compared to 2018 decreased by 22%, and the  number of deaths, related to military service, decreased by 47% [from  38 to 20]. Almost half - from seven to four - the number of deaths as  a result of violation of the ceasefire regime decreased. The number  of deaths to suicide decreased by 36.4%, from 11 to seven, " -  Advisor to Prosecutor General Arme said on January 10 on his Facebook  page AI Gore Abrahamyan.

In this regard, the Vanadzor office presented its statistics, noting  that according to their analysis, during 2019 there were no reports  or publications regarding 5 five deaths in the armed forces of the  past year.  The Vanadzor office also disagrees with the statement  that in 2019 the smallest number of deaths was recorded in the army,  noting that in 2013 there was also a low mortality rate. The office  recalled that in 2013 5 cases of death of military personnel as a  result of violation of the ceasefire by the enemy were recorded, 8 -  suicides, 5 - murders (including intentional violation of the rules  for operating weapons), 4 - road accidents, four more as a result of  health problems, one was blown up by a mine, another died as a result  of an accident, also 2 deaths were recorded when not clarified  circumstances.

"Taking into account the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia  that 2019 recorded the lowest mortality rate in the army. We would  like to note that in 2011, 2013 and 2014 were recorded even lower  mortality results than in 2019, "said in the Vanadzor office.

The office also noted that after the "velvet revolution" in the Armed  Forces, serious changes were made related to improving the quality of  food and uniforms, improving the living conditions of combat duty,  while in the direction of maintaining statutory relations, the health  situation, and reducing the risks of corruption in No steps were  taken to procure, increase the effectiveness of civilian control over  the armed forces, and there is no clearly worked out strategy.

The office is also convinced that the reduction in the number of  deaths is by no means an indicator of the solution of rooting  systemic problems in this department. "Given the fact that in 2013  there was a historical minimum of the number of deaths, of which  there were 31, and officially 30, this fact did not guarantee the  maintenance of low rates, and due to systemic problems and the lack  of proper civilian control, in subsequent years we witnessed a sharp  increase the number of deaths. Needless to say, the effectiveness of  the investigation of deaths in the Armed Forces is also not ensured,  and efforts are not made to eliminate their root causes, "the  Vanadzor office emphasized.