29 November 2010, 22:30
Ogandzhanyan: in 2010, 37 servicemen perished in crossfire in Nagorno-Karabakh
Karen Ogandzhanyan, head of the public organization named "Helsinki Initiative-92", said that skirmishes among soldiers of the Karabakh Army occur frequently enough; and only in 2010, 37 soldiers were killed in such incidents.
"In general, if we remember that the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army is an integral part of the Armenian Army, in total, 44 soldiers of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh were lost in 'internal squabbles'," said Karen Ogandzhanyan and added that he had no data about those wounded, because the Ministry of Defence of Karabakh conceals the data.
Mr Ogandzhanyan has noted that relatives of perished soldiers find it useless to address human rights organizations, because "they don't believe that any NGO in Nagorno-Karabakh may solve anything and defend their rights."
After 1998, according to his story, "the Nagorno-Karabakh Army has become a closed structure, the country's governing system has become authoritarian; and it doesn't admit any public involvement in monitoring situation in the army."
Meanwhile, Yuri Airapetyan, Ombudsman in Nagorno-Karabakh, has noted that within the two years of the Ombudsman's office operation its staff has been constantly monitoring military units, and revealed no violations.
Besides, Mr Airapetyan said that his office has received no complaints from soldiers or their parents as to service conditions, hazing or other non-statutory relationships.
Author: Alvard Grigoryan Source: CK correspondent
