Ignored by her government a female freedom fighter is not even remembered on liberation anniversaries.
00:00, July 11, 2011 | News | Freedom of Information and Speech
This year Vanadzor citizen Lusine Hovhannisyan was not invited to participate in the liberation anniversary of Shushi. Lusine, a 35-year-old fighter for the Karabakh War, spent the 19th anniversary of Shushi Liberation alone, in a rented apartment.
At the age of 15, like many young girls, Lusine dreamt of having a home with a little garden and pursuing her goal of getting a higher education. However, instead of pursuing her educational goals, Lusine went to war as a young volunteer.
In 1990, when many people escaped from Artsakh, the Hovhannisyans, had to leave their rented Vanadzor apartment, which was severely damaged during the earthquake, and move to Mets Taghlar Village in the Hadrut District. After the earthquake, life was very difficult in Vanadzor, especially for a young girl who experienced many deaths “ blood, the smell of corpses, coffins…” “I didn’t want to stay in Vanadzor as one gets tired of so many losses, one gets tired of looking for the brother among the dead or to try to recognize… when there is no ear or face any more. Then you bring him home and bury him… after all, you want to forget and…then the same thing happens with other close friends. You lose many people you know, you get very tired as you are only 15 or16-years-old”, recalls Lusine with tears in her eyes. All this suffering and trauma made a major impact on Lusine and caused difficulties for her in the years to come.
Living in Yerevan at 17, Lusine got married and had a daughter; however, her happiness did not last long as she got divorced and moved back to Vanadzor alone with her young daughter. Here, too, life was difficult as she did not have a good education and could not find a job to support herself and daughter. Eventually she had to send her child to live with her former husband. “It’s not right when you get divorced, and leave Yerevan for Vanadzor. Then after a year your social conditions get even worse that you have to call your ex-husband and ask him to take the child at least for two years”, says the former freedom fighter. And the State is so careless towards Lusine, who had endangered her life for the sake of her State. As she was not “lucky” enough to die or get injured, the government does not provide her with an apartment. Her last hope is her father, Karapet Hovhannisyan, an injured freedom fighter who is on the waiting list (N 1271) of the homeless which is registered in Lori Municipality and determined by the RA Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Defense sends vague responses to Lusine’s applications when she requests information on the subject of her father receiving an apartment. First, the Ministry of Defense informs her that the committee will touch upon the issue of providing them with an apartment only after they have solved the problems of the families of dead or disabled soldiers registered in 2003-2007 on the housing census list. A month later the 2003-2007 years are replaced with 2003-2009.
Regarding this inaccuracy “Medialabi” was informed by the Ministry of Defense-Social Department that the first response (2003-2007) should be considered the basis, justifying that there was just a technical mistake in the second response. According to the data of “Yerkrapah Voluntary Union” the Lori Region lost 1200 freedom fighters during the war: 82 were injured, 82 became disabled. Vanadzor gave 202 victims to this war. The families of freedom fighters who died and those who have disability classifications have been provided with apartments.
Lusine does not believe that the issue of being provided with an apartment will be solved some day soon: “The Ministry has made a mess of the situation: homelessness was mixed with reforms. I have gone to them numerous times and told them there are two homeless in Lori Region at present: one of them is my dad, the other one is a freedom fighter. Is it difficult to provide two people with an apartment and then to move on to the improvement of the 355 apartments of the town? We are the 1271st on the list…”
However, the main problem for Lusine is the disrespect and injustice towards her.
“The matter is that there is injustice everywhere. I see who is given an apartment: that person has four houses and a jeep, state salary, position. He is considered homeless though, he is given a house which he sells and spends all the money for his own needs …” According to the explanation from the Social Department of Ministry of Defense, the next number on the waiting list for getting an apartment is determined by the date of registration on the list provided who, being registered in that very year, was first injured. For getting an apartment Lusine’s father was registered in 2008, that is why he is the 1271st on the list. Lusine’s recent letter to the Ministry of Defense, in which she asked to be informed when her homeless family would be provided with an apartment, remains unanswered.
Arayik Zalyan, Lawyer for Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor, considers this a violation of the right to freedom of information. “According to Article 9 of the RA Law on Freedom of Information, a reply to a written inquiry for getting information should be provided within 5 days. The terms stated in the law regarding Lusine’s inquiry, has been clearly violated”, states the lawyer.
Lusine states that those who have not seen war cannot imagine what it is like and will never understand the history. Though she feels ignored by the state, she remains loyal: “If there is a war again, I am always ready for my country.”