Parents alert: sick children are declared “fit for service”
17:26, July 31, 2016 | News, Other news | Rights of Soldiers/Recruits | Armed Forces
The human rights activist explains this by “meeting the plan” and “corruption risks”.
Parents and relatives of many young men of military age complain that despite the medical records available, according to which their sons suffer “grave diseases” and are not fit for military service, the Ministry of Defense ignores this fact and drafts such young men to the army.
On the recent 2 days, Shahumyan military registration and enlistment office in Yerevan hosted sessions of the Central Medical Commission, Ministry of Defense. Headed by Henrik Muradyan, Military Commissioner of Armenia, the officials decided on the extent to which the medical documents provided by young men were well-grounded. There were many people waiting for the decision since early morning till late evening in front of the military registration and enlistment office.
Lilianna Gevorgyan from Ptghni village says, “My child has a meniscus problem,” Mr. Mkhchyan [doctor] at ‘Grigor Lusavorich’ says that he should undergo a meniscus surgery. How can today Mr. Muradyan from the military registration and enlistment office raise his hand saying ‘Have a good service’?”
Many people felt irritated. According to Anaida Eroyan from Gyumri, since March she has been in torment, as she puts it. ‘Surb Ggigor Lusavorich’, ‘Erebuni’ and ‘Armenia’ medical centers concluded that her son was not fit for service because of the stones in his kidneys. “We all know that Article 410 states that if 5 and more stones are detected in the kidneys of a person and if he has the diseases listed in Para ‘b’, he is not fit for service. Not satisfied with all this, they naturally sent him to ‘Kanaz’ military hospital, as far as I know. There, the doctor, due to his indifference and ignorance – and I can use this word without any sense of remorse – detected a stone by 0.4 smaller, so that my child is drafted to military service. Here, I can talk only about injustice,” Anaida Eroyan said in her interview to ‘Azatutyun’ (‘Liberty’).
And Sargis Manukyan from Armavir said that he had submitted references from psychiatric clinics but he was also declared fit for service. “These people are bribetakers, they make sick persons healthy and draft them to the army and make healthy persons sick for money by letting them stay at home,” Manukyan said. Hovhannes Abgaryan also came from Armavir; he said that he suffered displacement: “It dislocates always, even while sleeping and it hurts for at least 10 days after each dislocation. And here they told me: “We made you come and go for many times, we repulsed you, have a good service.”
Shouting could be heard from the premises of the military registration and enlistment office; some of the parents were arguing with the Commission representatives. The staff members of the military registration and enlistment office prohibited ‘Azatutyun’ (‘Liberty’) journalists from video recording the inside the premises stating that the premises were considered a military unit, and therefore special permit was required to access it. And we were granted no such permit.
In his interview to ‘Azatutyun’, Henrik Muradyan, Military Commissioner of Armenia, said that the Central Medical Commission examined the complaints of the parents arguing that their sons were not fit for military service but were drafted. “Based on supplementary petitions, and by my decision as well, we sent such persons for another medical examination in the central military hospital”, Muradyan said. When asked why they had sent the persons already declared fit for service to medical examination, he answered: “as a petition was submitted.”
According to human rights activist Artur Sakunts, in many cases sick persons were drafted. “Regardless the denial by the MoD, there is a plan which should be met and which is actually not met. And they try to meet that plan to some extent at the expense of the conscripts with severe health problems. They provide the required number of servicemen. There is also a corruption risk; I can assert with certainty that even after the April war the children of the officials either do their military service in areas very close to their homes or do not do such service at all,” the human rights activist said.