Report on the Results of Standardized Perceptions Survey on the Rights of Conscripts – [2022, Armenia]

© 2022. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE

SUMMARY

During the period June-September, 2022 Peace Dialogue NGO conducted an anonymous survey among 100 conscripts based on the standardized survey template developed by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF). The survey was conducted in order to identify conscripts’ concerns and needs during their military service and the level of protection of their rights. The main target audience of the survey were conscripts who have already served at least two months of the mandatory period of military service. Since in the Republic of Armenia (RA) the access to current conscripts was not possible, individuals who within the last year completed their mandatory military service were interviewed. Thus, all 100 respondents served in the Armenian Army during 2019-2022.

Based on the analysis of the study results, we can conclude that during the aforementioned period, respect for the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment as an absolute right, remained of great concern in the Armenian Army. The right to property appeared to be regularly violated. The prohibition of discrimination and the right to decent housing and accommodation were not sufficiently guaranteed. However, respect for other rights of conscripts was rather or relatively effective.

DATA ON COMPULSORY CONSCRIPTION IN ARMENIA

Military service in Armenia is mandatory for male citizens aged 18 to 27. The service lasts two years, and conscripts are drafted twice a year pursuant to the Government’s decision. Citizens aged 27 to 57 are registered in the military reserve and may be called to serve if mobilization is declared.

In Armenia compulsory military service can be replaced by alternative military service or alternative labor service. Alternative military service can be taken by a citizen whose religious faith or beliefs contradict carrying, keeping, or using weapons. A citizen whose religious faith or beliefs are generally opposed to military service may go to alternative labor service.

According to the law, a citizen of Armenia undergoing compulsory military service cannot refuse to perform his service and choose the alternative one, and the one undergoing alternative service cannot refuse and choose the compulsory one.

The citizen is not a subject for compulsory military service, if he:

has been declared unfit for military service due to health conditions;
has served in the armed forces of another state for not less than 12 months or has served an alternative service in another state for not less than 18 months prior to acquiring the RA citizenship;
has a parent or a sibling, deceased during the military operations in the defense of the RA, or is the only male descendant of the family and has a parent or a sibling deceased during the military service in the Armed Forces of the RA or in other armies or in the troops of foreign states located in the RA according to international treaties of the RA.

Conscription of compulsory military service is declared not less than twice a year by the decision of the RA Government.

Deferment from compulsory military service is granted:

due to health conditions;
based on family status.

Deferment from compulsory military service is also granted:

to a citizen elected as a deputy of the National Assembly of the RA during the entire term of his mandate;
for targeted education;
to the citizens with significant achievements in the fields of science, education, culture, arts and sports by the decision of the Government in accordance with the procedure established by the RA Government.

METHODOLOGY

As mentioned above, the target audience of the survey was conscripts who have already served at least two months of the compulsory military service. The access to current conscripts was not possible and only former conscripts who completed their compulsory service within the last year were interviewed.The respondents were expected to fill out the survey themselves and only in their personal capacity. The survey consisted in a series of questions organized in parts, each part corresponding to a human right (freedom from torture, right to life, freedom of expression…) and the answers were divided by values from 1 to 10 or by yes and no. The survey has been transmitted to the conscripts in the Armenian language.

The standardized form included the following instructions for the respondents:

Please fill out this survey yourself and only in your personal capacity – only describe your experience, thoughts, and perceptions. Please only refer to experiences from your period of compulsory service.
This survey is anonymous, and no one will be able to track your responses back to you.
In case any question is unclear, please ask the researcher to provide clarification.
Please answer all questions in the survey.

In case any questions were unclear to the participant, Peace Dialogue’s researchers offered help in clarifying the questions. However, the researchers did not provide information or did not give advice that could bias the respondent, and did not answer any question on their behalf.Some of the surveys were completed on paper and some were filled in a digital form depending on respondents’ priorities.The limitations of this study may be, first of all, the small sample of former conscripts interviewed (100) and the fact that, the sampling was made exclusively by the snowball sampling method. Apart from that, conscripts were not always well aware of their rights (for example, 15% stated that they were not at all informed about what constitutes instances of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and not at all able to identify them). Thus, the survey reflects exclusively the perceptions of the former conscripts on the aforementioned rights. Another limitation could be that the unit of assignment of conscripts was not considered during the study. This means that the difference in treatment could depend on the unit of assignment rather than on other factors. It is also worth noting that the sample group underwent their compulsory military service in 2020, the period when Armenia was involved in full-scale hostilities with Azerbaijan, or immediately after the hostilities (September 27 to November 9, 2020). Moreover, in 2020, restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were introduced around the world. Thus, many of the restrictions faced by the respondents could be caused either by the COVID-19 related factors, by factors related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, or specifically, by the factor of the declared Martial Law in Armenia.

SECTION 1: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF RESPONDENTS

Total number of respondents:

100

Period of service of respondents:

2019 – 2021 – 18%

2020 – 2022 – 82%

Total duration of compulsory military service:

All conscripts served 2 years.

Institution of service:

Ministry of Defence

Age:

Range of age: 20 – 24

Average age: 20.5

Level of Education:

Primary Education 4%

Secondary Education 90%

Bachelor Degree 6%

Ethnicity:

Armenian – 98%

Yazidi – 2%

Religious Affiliation:

Christianity – 96%

Yazidism – 2%

Atheism – 2%

Primary language/mother tongue:

Armenian – 99%

Russian – 1%

Origin:

Major/larger city – 79%

Village or rural area – 21%

Although the standardized survey form did not include participation in military operations as a separate criterion, all participants in this survey were in fact undergoing compulsory military service during the full-scale war between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces. The war broke out on September 27, 2020. The hostilities were suspended on November 9, 2020 and were called afterwards the 44 Day War. Another escalation of the Armenian – Azerbaijani conflict was registered in September, 2022. From September 13 to 14, the Azerbaijani military forces attacked the territory of Armenia. More than 200 servicemen were killed and 28 soldiers and two civilians still listed as missing. As shown below, these factors were constantly mentioned by the respondents, indicating that participation in military operations also had an impact on their perceptions of issues related to the conscripts’ rights.

SECTION 2: HUMAN RIGHTS DURING COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE

2.1. Civil and Political Rights:

PROHIBITION OF TORTURE, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT AND RIGHT TO LIFE

Despite the fact that prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatments is a constitutional right of the RA according to Article 26, and an absolute right according to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as several United Nation treaties, most of the conscripts (72%) experienced or were aware of acts of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment during their service. Only 28% of them were completely sure that they didn’t. It is also worth mentioning that in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the respondents more highly prioritized the cases of torture and ill-treatment done by the Azerbaijani armed forces towards the Armenian conscripts during the 2020 war and the recent escalation in September 13-14, 2022. © 2022. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE

The survey revealed a very low level of trust towards the military authorities for reporting any violation of rights and the efficiency of such a report. Only 23% of the conscripts were fully informed at the beginning of the service about appropriate reporting and complaint procedures in the cases of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and only 16% were completely sure that they would be able to report. In case if they finally report, 53% considered that there would be an investigation into their complaint; however, 56% considered there would not be sufficient safeguards to protect them from negative consequences.

The right to life is guaranteed by Article 24 of the Constitution of the RA. This right, guaranteed by Article 2 of the ECHR, encompasses positive obligations for the State such as to take preventive measures in the face of a known suicide risk. Above all, “States have a reinforced duty towards people who are under their exclusive control, such as conscripts or individuals carrying out compulsory military service”, which “requires the adoption of practical measures aimed at the effective protection of conscripts against the dangers inherent in military life, and appropriate procedures for identifying shortcomings and errors liable to be committed in that regard by those in charge at different levels”. According to the survey, 52% of the conscripts with various degree stated that they or other servicemen have thought about committing suicide and only 23% of them considered that the military authorities took sufficient precautions to protect their life. However, remarkably, respondents mainly believed that the distress and suffering they had experienced during the service were in compliance with the actual demands of the service. © 2022. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION

Article 42 of the RA Constitution provides the freedom of expression, which can be restricted by law and Article 44 provides the freedom of assembly, which can be restricted by the law for servicemen of the armed forces. Freedom of expression is also guaranteed by Article 10 and freedom of assembly and association by Article 11 of the ECHR. Those freedoms may be restricted by law in the interests of national security, according to Article 15 of the ECHR. Under martial law, corresponding to the period of the 44-days war, Armenian government filed a notification on the temporary derogations from those obligations.

Approximately one third of the conscripts considered that they were clearly informed on how to communicate or express themselves and how they were or were not allowed to meet with other servicemen. However, Yazidi conscripts, more often than others, mentioned that they were not informed by authorities on how they could express themselves and it was not clear to them how they were allowed to communicate and express themselves. About one third of the respondents considered the restrictions of their freedom of expression reasonable and a little over one third considered restrictions of their freedom of assembly and association normal and proportionate to safeguard military discipline. For the two thirds who considered the restrictions on these freedoms rather unreasonable, we do not know if those freedoms were unreasonably restricted without derogations provided by law because the survey does not distinguish between the answers during the 44-day war and the pre- and post-war period.

PROHIBITION OF FORCED LABOUR

The paragraph 5 of Article 57 of the RA Constitution prohibits forced labour and precises that military service is not considered as compulsory or forced labour. Article 4 of the ECHR also prohibits forced labour. The Armenian Labour Code deals with various aspects of collective and individual labour relations. However, the law does not address aspects related specifically to compulsory military service. In this survey, 10% of the conscripts considered they had conducted work that was neither of a purely military character, nor a part of the training.

RIGHT TO PROPERTY

The right to private property is guaranteed by the Armenian Civil Code, as well as the protection of property is provided by Article 1 of the Protocol 1 to the ECHR. Article 61 of the Recommendation CM/Rec (2010)4 precises that “the property of members of the armed forces, in particular conscripts, retained upon joining the armed forces should be returned at the end of military service”. The survey also showed that the right to private property was regularly violated since the large majority of the conscripts do not get their personal belongings back at the end of the service. 28% believed that discrimination played a role in having their or other conscripts’ property taken away. Among them, 97.4% of the respondents felt like their status in hierarchy in the military unit and 47.4% believed that their rural or urban origin played a role in having their property taken away.

PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION AND
RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE

Discrimination is prohibited according to Article 29 of the Constitution of the RA and Article 14 of the ECHR. According to the Armenian Ministry of Defence, the military service of the national, religious, and language minorities is organized considering their cultural specifics and the conditions that their military service is run without any obstacles. The survey indicated different series of discriminations reported by conscripts, such as the status in hierarchy in the military unit, rural or urban origin, age, the level of education or economic situation. Yazidi and Atheist conscripts, who represented 4% of the respondents, more often considered that their rights had not been respected. And Yazidi conscripts, who represented 2%, systematically reported about feeling a difference in treatment.

Article 31 of the Constitution of the RA provides the “inviolability of private and family life”, which can be restricted by law. Article 8 of the ECHR also provides the right to respect for private and family life including the right to keep regular contacts, which can be still restricted by law according to Article 15. Due to the conflict, conscripts are not allowed to carry smartphones in order to avoid the risk of tracking of military personnel through mobile communications. Most of the conscripts’ answers implied that their right to private and family life was rather respected but 17% stated that the virtual contact with their family and loved ones during the service was prohibited and/or arbitrary. Noteworthy, Yazidi conscripts and the respondents with atheistic views believed that they were not able to keep sufficient and regular virtual contact with their families.

2.2. Economic and Social Rights

RIGHT TO DECENT HOUSING AND ACCOMMODATION

Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides the right of everyone to “an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”. Article 31 of the European social charter of the European Council provides a commitment of the States to ensure the effectiveness of this right by promoting access to housing of an adequate standard. However, the Armenian legislation does not envision the right to adequate housing, and the domestic legislation does not contain any regulations that would comprehensively reflect the full scope of the right to adequate housing conditions as defined under the CESCR GC 4.

The survey revealed that the adequacy and decency of housing during the military service was unsatisfactory since too many complaints were recorded. For example, 33% of the respondents considered that there was not enough ventilation, 34% stated that there was not enough heating, 35% considered bathing and toilet facilities inadequate. Moreover, there is a high number of complaints regarding the state of repair of barracks (47%), adequacy of furnishing (44%) and proximity of sleeping area from toilet facilities (36%).

RIGHT TO HEALTH PROTECTION

Medical assistance is a constitutional right of RA according to Article 85. Article 8 of the ECHR encompasses a positive obligation for the States “to take appropriate measures to protect the life and health of those within their jurisdiction” and even that “special measures must be taken to adequately secure the health and well-being of conscripts by, among other things, providing them with the medical assistance they require”. Health protection of the conscripts was also a subject to concerns because most of them considered that their health was not completely protected. Only 10% of respondents expressed their complete confidence on sufficiency and adequacy of precautions to protect their health. 3% confidently stated that their health was severely threatened during the service.

PROTECTION OF MENTAL AND PHYSICAL INTEGRITY

Article 25 of the RA Constitution states that everyone shall have the right to physical and mental integrity. This right may be restricted only by law, for the purpose of state security, preventing or disclosing crimes, protecting public order, health and morals or the basic rights and freedoms of others. The right to physical and mental integrity is also guaranteed by Article 8 of the ECHR that covers the physical and moral integrity of the person.

According to the survey results, most of the conscripts experienced or were aware of experiencing violation of mental or physical integrity. Only 27% of them were sure that they never faced it. 44% of respondents never felt like it was possible to report such violations and 21% stated that if they did report they were assured that there would be severe negative consequences for them.

RIGHT TO WORK SECURITY

Overall, Armenian law does not envision the right to work security, especially for the military personnel and conscripts. The Armenian Labor Code indicates that the rules and norms of labor protection are approved in the prescribed manner by ministries, state committees, departments, as well as state control bodies, jointly with or in agreement with the central committees of relevant trade unions. If there are no requirements in the rules, then the administration of the institution on their own take measures to ensure safe working conditions. In regard to the military service, this aspect is covered by the Military Disciplinary Code. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) provides safe and healthy working conditions as well as rest, leisure, and reasonable limitation of working hours. During the survey, one person mentioned that he was never allowed to rest but, on the contrary, 22% considered periods to rest completely regular and sufficient. On average 7,72% considered it rather correct. 3 persons stated that they never felt safe during their military service. It is worth mentioning that with varying degrees of confidence, many of the respondents found the feeling of safety during the service unsatisfactory. The feeling of safety is perceived as mixed, but overall insufficient since the average value is only 5,76%. However, 14 persons (even those who served in the army during the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan) mentioned that they felt safe during the period of their military service.

RIGHT TO DECENT AND SUFFICIENT NUTRITION

Armenian law does not envision the right to decent and sufficient nutrition. However, according to Recommendation CM/Rec (2010) N4 of the Committee of Ministers of the ECHR, members of the armed forces should be provided with an appropriate diet that takes into account as far as possible their age, health, religion, and the nature of their work. Apart from that, clean drinking water should be available to members of the armed forces at all times. The survey indicated that the majority of the conscripts considered sufficient the amount of food and availability of clean water.

SECTION 3: RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of this study, the following recommendations are proposed:

Raise awareness of conscripts on how to identify instances of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and how to report the cases.
Establish complaint procedures and reporting mechanisms for torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that will guarantee the anonymity and further protection of the reporting person.
Ensure the investigation of cases of torture and inhuman or degrading treatments in the Armed Forces in accordance with Article 450 of the new Criminal Code adopted in May 2021 and conviction of the guilty.
Provide mechanisms for effective implementation of the right of victims of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment to access psychological, social and legal services.
Raise awareness on the right to life among military conscripts and military personnel.
Set a measurable goal in terms of reducing the number of deaths in the armed forces and raising the effectiveness of their investigation.
Raise awareness of conscripts and military personnel on how they are or are not allowed to communicate and express themselves during the military service (including the expression in virtual forms).
Raise awareness of conscripts and overall military personnel on their freedom of assembly and association (including virtual one) and restrictions during the service.
Ensure the prohibition of mandatory or forced labour of conscripts in the Armenian legislation.
Develop guidelines which will outline which tasks are a part of military training schemes (and which are not).
Raise awareness of conscripts and larger military personnel regarding the aforementioned guidelines.
Develop a formal procedure and mechanisms of administration of confiscation and return of conscripts’ confiscated belongings.
Establish a registry of belongings of conscripts which are confiscated during the military service and ensure return of confiscated belongings after the service.
Raise awareness of conscripts on their right to respect for private and family life and the restrictions of the right due to security-related circumstances.
Raise awareness of conscripts from national, religious minorities about the measures intended to protect their rights during conscription period and about the rights that they can exercise during their military service taking into account their national, religious or language specifics.
Raise awareness of conscripts and overall military personnel about how to identify instances of violation of mental or physical integrity as well as the reporting and complaint procedures in the cases of its violation.