They are Presenting their Attitudes to the Public through Vova Gasparyan’s “Hype”
00:00, October 31, 2011 | News | Rights of Soldiers/Recruits | Armed Forces
1in.am interviewed Artur Sakunts, Chairman of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor and who is also a member of the Army in Reality Initiative.
1in.am: Mr. Sakunts, a week ago, the members of the Army in Reality Initiative met with the First Deputy Minister of Defense, Davit Tonoyan and presented 3 demands: releasing Vardges Gaspari, commenting on the public statements of the Deputy Minister of Defense, and providing information on army activities. Vardges Gaspari was released. What updates do you have regarding the other two demands?
A.S.: In essence, we are still waiting for the Department of Defense to comment on the statements of Deputy Minister of Defense, Vova Gasparyan. On the one hand, the First Deputy Minister of Defense met with the Army in Reality Initiative, had a very constructive conversation and aroused some hope that there will be steps taken towards correcting the situations in the military. On the other hand, another deputy minister gives negative comments about the activity of the same initiative. In these ambiguous circumstances, we believe that the Minister of Defense and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief should both present their viewpoints. Besides the fact of the issues such as manifestations of corruption, violation of human rights, and exposure of murders being raised by the Army in Reality Initiative,there is also the question of in which direction the situations in the army will develop. So far, there is no reaction to Vova Gasparyan’s behavior, and this can mean that the department of defense openly supports such a figure and viewpoint that is essentially aimed against civil demands, MoD transparency, accountability, and in general, army reforms. This means that the commitments made by Armenia, within the framework of NATO-Armenia Partnership for Peace, are mere words and, unfortunately, The Department of Defense does not want to do anything of significance. Moreover, this is a gross violation of the constitutional provision, i.e. the constitutional provision of civil monitoring. Now we are waiting for their feedback. It should be understood that we, as taxpayers and citizens, demand the official department present the information to us. Moreover, the information we are requesting does not refer to military secrets, such as the amount of weapons. It refers to the prices of medication, stationery, and food. This will help us determine how effectively our taxes are being used for the protection of the country and those who refuse to provide such information probably have something to hide.
1in.am: If I understand you correctly, there is an ideological clash in the MoD?
A.S.: There is, in fact, an ideological clash in terms of the essence of the Ministry of Defense, not its functions: what kind of armed forces we should have; one side supports the conservative model and corruption, we typically call it the Russian side. The other model includes few people and it is the democratization model.
Unfortunately, a delay in the response, gives an impression that the supporters of the Russian, conservative, , and corrupt model are dominating the armed forces. This is one of the main reasons that the deaths and corruption crimes in the army are not solved.
1in.am: Then why do the MoD officials reassure us that there are no ideological clashes between Vova Gasparyan and Davit Tonoyan?
A.S.: First of all, I don’t think Vova Gasparyan is the figure we should focus on so much. His role is symbolic, he represents much more serious figures that remain in the shadow and present their approaches to the public through Vova Gasparyan’s ‘Hype’. They direct the attention to other issues instead of responding to our inquiries, because the best way of concealing a crime is diverting the attention from the real issues by transferring the focus to a completely different topic.
1in.am: On November 15th you will be participating in the NATO-Armenia study visit in Brussels. Will you raise these issues?
A.S.: At the meetings in the NATO Office, I will state that the reforms conducted within NATO-Armenia Partnership for Peace Program are endangered because of these reactionary powers, who obstruct the reforms with their mentality and working style and which throws doubt upon the realization of several activities and programmatic changes foreseen in the agreement. We are concerned that, in this case, the realization of the program in the RA is challenged. I think this is the venue where the issue should be raised. This is the platform that provides grants, i.e. provides money to the RA without reparation and this corrupt implementation or an illusion of implementation is called grant consumption. We want to say that those who are responsible, the reactionary powers, obstruct the implementation of the agreement on the highest officiallevel. I think NATO should be aware of what reality is occurring in Armenia..
1in.am: I know that there was another demand added to the previous three: to conduct an international medical examination on the commanders. What is the purpose?
A.S.: This has been discussed many times. Now I demand an international examination beconducted among the highest commandersfor drug-use.
1in.am: Are there any specific suspicions? Do you have any research information about that?
A.S.: I have many suspicions that the highest commanders use drugs, I raise the question the following way: “If you are certain that you are not drug-users (by trusting the command and administration of some services to drug-users, you challenge the security of the country), then you will undergo the examination yourselves and will dispel the doubts, which will also increase the trust towards the army, the armed forces and the commanders.
1in.am: The Minister was not in town last week and now, he is back. Don’t you think your response is delayed?
A.S.: We have some concerns that the seeming majority will use pressure; however the Supreme Commander-in-Chief has not said anything so far. He was in Armenia, he is directly responsible for the situation in the armed forcesand he does not say anything. The arrest of Vardges Gaspari and the filing of the criminal case, and today’s apprehension of Lala Aslikyan and the closure of the government building by the police, show that the government is predominantly reactionary and opposes civil demands from society, which supports it through its taxes. In essence, they are against the democratization and civil participation in our country. Moreover, I should note that in many programs, which Armenia is a part of, the increase of public participation is a fundamental point. It was welcomed by Tonoyan and opposed by Vova Gasparyan.
1in.am: Mr. Sakunts, one last question, yesterday there was an article about you in the media criticizing you and your office, have you had a chance to look at it and what can you say about it? In particular, about you organizing color revolutions.
A.S: I should say that it is a rather old story. The series of articles was published in May of last year. It was published first in the Russian Media then returned to Armenia. I wish God would give me a chance to organize a color revolution. Unfortunately, I don’t have that opportunity, so let them be calm. But it will inevitably happen.
Source: www.1in.am