
ArmInfo. In 2025 alone, the Ombudsman's Office of Armenia registered approximately 900 complaints from conscripts and their families. 86% of these issues (744 complaints) related to the right to health, necessary examinations and testing, as stated by Albert Danielyan, Chief Specialist of the Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, at a press conference in Yerevan titled "Human Rights in Closed Institutions: The Right to Health Protection in the Army and the Penitentiary System."
According to him, the main issue is the absence of regulations establishing a maximum number of examinations permitted by the Central Medical Commission per day. This lack poses serious risks to both the quality of examinations and the health of conscripts. Furthermore, he added, the current regulations prevent conscripts from consulting doctors they trust, which could improve the quality of the examinations.
Nazeli Movsesyan, a human rights activist at the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, noted that they receive numerous complaints from conscripts regarding insufficient health assessments and inadequate testing. Furthermore, she noted, they encounter cases where service members who have received several deferments due to health issues are declared fit for military service during their subsequent conscription, despite no changes in their health.
She believes this is due to omissions in the medical examinations of conscripts. Movsesyan reported that in 2025, 75 conscripts contacted the organization during the winter and summer drafts, more than 80% of whom raised health-related issues. The human rights activist explained that conscripts most often seek to clarify the rationale for the General Commission's decision regarding them.
When discussing how this issue can be addressed, Movsenyan noted that, first and foremost, the life of a service member in Armenia should be considered the highest value. "That is, the right to health and life of a service member must be paramount," the human rights activist concluded.
Earlier, ArmInfo reported that, on March 24, representatives of the Armenian Ombudsman, at the request of Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan, made an unannounced rapid response visit to the Yerevan Garrison Hospital of the Ministry of Defense in response to a complaint from the family of a service member. According to the Armenian Ombudsman's Office, the call was regarding the soldier's health, the provision of medical care, and the protection of his rights.