0 8000 12 11

Despite his serious eyesight problems, A. G., conscript from Vanadzor, was declared fit for military service at the winter call-up of 2016 and notified of his conscription. Before, during the winter call-up of 2015, he got a 10-month deferment due to his health status.

However, after the deferment period expired, the Central Medical Commission of the RA Defense Ministry declared the conscript fit for limited military service without any complex examination of his health, only based on the diagnosis of the Ophthalmological Center after Malayan and ignoring the problems related to the visual acuity found through the examination carried out at Kanaqer-Zeytun Medical Center, Yerevan on October 5, 2016.

It is noteworthy that despite having essentially different results of examinations conducted at various medical facilities, the Commission relied only on one of them and made a decision unfavorable for the conscript.

As A. G. did not agree with such a decision, he refused to leave for his military service. As a result, criminal proceedings were initiated based on his intention to avoid military service.

To restore his violated rights, A. G. sought assistance with HCA Vanadzor in November 2016 and the Organization then took on the protection of the conscript’s rights and applied to the RA Ministry of Defense to remedy the omissions and provide him with an expert examination under relevant paragraph of the RA Defense Minister’s Decree № 410-13. However, on January 25, 2017 A.G.’s name was again presented to the CMC’s (Central Medical Commission) session and he was again declared fit for limited military service with the same diagnosis. Moreover, his visual acuity degree was not considered in that decision as well.  

HCA Vanadzor protected the conscript’s rights also during the preliminary investigation under the criminal proceedings initiated on avoiding military service. After looking through the results of the medical examination assigned under the criminal case, the Organization filed with the body conducting the proceedings a motion on seizing from the relevant medical facilities the findings of the medical examination carried out during the forensic expert examination. The motion was granted and the findings of A.G.’s health examination at ‘Surb Grigor Lusavorich’ Medical Center were received. Such findings also include data on the conscript’s visual acuity.

Based on the above, the conscript’s name was again presented at the CMC’s session, he was referred to in-patient examinations and at the next-in-turn session of July 31, 2017 the Central Medical Commission concluded that A. G. was temporarily unfit for military service at peacetime and granted him a deferment of 3 years.

However, when making this decision, the CMC again applied a wrong provision of the RA Defense Minister’s Decree № 410. Given A. G.’s health problems evidenced in the medical records, he should have undergone an expert examination not under Para 85b but under Para 85a stating that a conscript is declared unfit for military service and removed from registration.

It is noteworthy that before, the conscript’s representative S. Soghomonyan, lawyer at HCA Vanadzor, had repeatedly applied both to the Chairperson of the RA MoD Central Medical Commission and the Chairperson of the Republican Conscription Commission to annul the previous opinions of the CMC, conduct another expert examination of the conscript and make decisions on declaring him unfit for military service.

However, even despite the CMC’s opinion on declaring the conscript unfit for service, in response to such application, M. Hakobyan, Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, again gave the same answer in his letter of August 7, 2017 stating that the conscript was fit for military service and was subject to conscription.

Thus, for a year A. G. was regularly examined and presented to the Central Medical Commission’s sessions but in all the cases he was declared fit for limited military service, which is evidenced by numerous official letters. And the Central Medical Commission paid no attention to the health problems that served basis for exemption from military service.

And its was only as a result of HCA Vanadzor’s complaints and motions that the RA Central Medical Commission changed its decision on the conscript’s fitness for military service but still applied an inadequate provision.

Any further actions on the case will be specified once they are agreed with A. G..