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The call-up announced for December 2013- January 2014 was also accompanied by the vicious working style of conscripting young men with health issues.

Numerous violations were recorded, namely:

• Conscripts, undergoing medical examinations at medical commissions, and their relatives were waited outside in the cold from morning till late evening.
• Citizens with serious health problems were conscripted.
• Servicemen on only several day military service and their relatives alert that some of those recruited with health issues were moved to hospital hardly having started their service.

HCA Vanadzor once again confirms and records that the Defense Department does not pay proper attention to the conscripts’ health issues during the organization and implementation of the call-up. The work style of administering medical examinations through formal and superficial approaches is continuing with an aim to recognize young men as fit for military service based on formal justifications, to subject them to conscription and thereby recruit the armed forces.

HCA Vanadzor subsequently

• Alerts about the impermissibility of such an approach, strictly condemns such a working style of the Defense Department to organize and implement the call-up.
• Demands to immediately stop the administration of formal medical examinations limited to documented level.
• Demands to administer proper medical examinations, and address the issue of fitness for military service of conscripts especially with multiple illnesses and grant deferments or exempt from military service.

Once again we claim that the conscription of every young man with health issues, including even those recognized fit for service with restrictions, entails the aggravation of health state of conscripts in stringent conditions typical of military service and constitutes a treatment degrading human dignity.

In such conditions violation of statutory relations and even death cases caused by health issues cannot be avoided. Furthermore, the filing of the criminal cases over the aforementioned cases cannot be deemed as adequate ensuring of commitments of human rights protection   undertaken by the Republic of Armenia before its citizens.

Once again stating that the RA Ministry of Defense and the RA Armed Forces General Headquarters bear immediate responsibility for the violation of human rights of servicemen and conscripts as a result of health issues both during the call-up and the military service, we demand stopping this vicious working style.

HCA Vanadzor

08․02․2014