Human Rights & Democratization
Court of Cassation Overturns Decision in Soldier Death Case After Peace Dialogue NGO Appeal
Following multiple rejected appeals by the Prosecutor’s Office, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Gegharkunik Marz, and the Criminal Court of Appeal, Peace Dialogue NGO’s special appeal to the Court of Cassation was accepted on January 31, 2023. The Court of Cassation’s recent ruling annulled the 2022 decision of the Criminal Court of Appeal, upholding the victim’s legal successor’s complaint and highlighting procedural violations during the investigation.
Strengthening Security Sector Reform in Armenia: A Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Roundtable Dialogue
Armenia in Focus: Navigating the Eastern Partnership, Regional Security, and European Integration
“…Despite 58% of the Armenian population favoring EU membership, EU-Armenia relations remain vulnerable to Russian influence…”
The Suicides and Murders Statistics in the Armenian Army (Infographics)
Over a period of six years, from 2010 to 2015 the RA and NK armed forces suffered a total of 206 fatal casualties, of which 48 were results of suicides and 43 results of murders. That number does not include the fatalities that were the result of ceasefire regime violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact. In percentage this numbers are equivalent to 23% and 21% of total non-combat casualties during the last 6 years.
The Fatal Accidents Statistics in the Armenian Army (Infographics)
67 fatalities out of 206 recorded in the RA and NK armed forces during the period 2010-2015 were fatal accidents. This number does not include the fatalities that were the result of ceasefire regime violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact.
Peace Dialogue NGOs suggestions on the draft action plan of the RA Ministry of Defense for the Human Rights protection for the period 2017-2019
In response to the announcement posted on the RA Ministry of Defense website inviting non-governmental organizations to send proposals for designing a draft action plan for the period of 2017-2019 stemming from the provisions of the strategy for the protection of Human Rights, Peace Dialogue NGO sent the following suggestions to the RA Ministry of Defense.
The Armenian Army is Used for the Political Gains by the Regime Once Again
On August 11, 2016, in response to the Peace Dialogue’s letter, the Chief of Staff of the RA MoD, stated: “According to Article 9 and Article 12 of the RA law on State and Official Secrets, as well as the decision N 173 made on March 13, 1998 and decision number 665 made on October 29, 1998, the questions and legal acts, requested by the organization, contain state and official secrets.
The database of fatal incidents in the armed forces now lists a total of 810 fatalities.
The website and database www.safesoldiers.am has been updated with information provided to Peace Dialogue NGO by private individuals, and NGOs along with information from public media. With this update, the website database now lists a total of 810 fatalities recorded in the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces since 1994 (currently the complete database is available at the Armenian version of the website).
Peace Dialogue NGO’s Request Was Rejected By The Administrative Court.
In a court hearing presided over by Judge Arman Dilanyan on March 11, 2016 the Administrative Court of Armenia decided to reject Peace Dialogue NGO’s complaint challenging the legitimacy of the classification of secret information mentioned in Section 17, Point 42 and 43 in the list provided by Executive Order N9 of the Ministry of Defense, dated July 9, 2015, and to partially annul the executive order.
Civilian Control of the Military is not just a Concern of Democracies
“In a democracy, soldiers are citizens. It is that simple: they deserve to be treated as citizens, and they should not tolerate being treated otherwise, even if the military service, in training and operations, includes hardships and deprivations. An army that structurally violates the rights of its citizen-soldiers will lose legitimacy, and, in the long …
