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MORE DETAILS OF ARMENIAN ARMY SHOOTING EMERGE
Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - Soldiers and tanks lined up for a military exercise, undated.
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2114472.html
30.07.2010
The Armenian military officially confirmed on Friday the deaths of
one officer and five soldiers in a mysterious shooting spree that
occurred at one of its frontline detachments on Wednesday.
In a short statement, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan identified all
six victims but gave no other details of the incident. The statement
said only that it was the result of "a blatant violation of the rules
of combat duty."
It added that "all necessary measures are being taken to clarify the
causes of the incident and bring the guilty to account in a manner
envisaged by law."
Other sources said the shooting took places at an Armenian army unit
located in Nagorno-Karabakh's southeastern Martuni district. One
victim's uncle, Khachik Sargsian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service that
his nephew served there.
"[Andranik Sargsian] was killed by three bullets," he said by phone.
"There are no traces of physical violence on his body."
According to Artur Sakunts, a prominent Armenian human rights
campaigner, the shootings were the work of another dead soldier, Karo
Ayvazian. He claimed that Ayvazian went on a shooting spree after a
fellow conscript was caught sleeping at an observation post on the
main Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact."
"When the lieutenant [Vardges Tadevosian] and a sergeant visited the
post and saw that one of the soldiers there is asleep, they woke him
up and started insulting and humiliating him," Sakunts told RFE/RL.
"Another soldier, who was not asleep, took his assault rifle and shot
the lieutenant and the sergeant."
"After the gunshots, three other soldiers rushed to the post and
[Ayvazian] gunned them down too and committed suicide," he said.
The incident, apparently the deadliest ever non-combat shooting in
the Armenian Armed Forces, occurred the day after another army officer
was found shot dead on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. The Defense
Ministry claimed that Lieutenant Artak Nazarian, 30, most probably
committed suicide. Nazarian's relatives strongly denied that, saying
that he was murdered by fellow servicemen.
The state human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, on Friday
expressed serious concern about both incidents highlighting lingering
abuse and other serious problems within the military. In a written
statement, Harutiunian said they "complement a spate of murders
committed at various army detachments" and will have "a negative
influence on the army's combat-readiness and the moral-psychological
state of the society."
From: A. Papazian
Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - Soldiers and tanks lined up for a military exercise, undated.
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2114472.html
30.07.2010
The Armenian military officially confirmed on Friday the deaths of
one officer and five soldiers in a mysterious shooting spree that
occurred at one of its frontline detachments on Wednesday.
In a short statement, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan identified all
six victims but gave no other details of the incident. The statement
said only that it was the result of "a blatant violation of the rules
of combat duty."
It added that "all necessary measures are being taken to clarify the
causes of the incident and bring the guilty to account in a manner
envisaged by law."
Other sources said the shooting took places at an Armenian army unit
located in Nagorno-Karabakh's southeastern Martuni district. One
victim's uncle, Khachik Sargsian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service that
his nephew served there.
"[Andranik Sargsian] was killed by three bullets," he said by phone.
"There are no traces of physical violence on his body."
According to Artur Sakunts, a prominent Armenian human rights
campaigner, the shootings were the work of another dead soldier, Karo
Ayvazian. He claimed that Ayvazian went on a shooting spree after a
fellow conscript was caught sleeping at an observation post on the
main Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact."
"When the lieutenant [Vardges Tadevosian] and a sergeant visited the
post and saw that one of the soldiers there is asleep, they woke him
up and started insulting and humiliating him," Sakunts told RFE/RL.
"Another soldier, who was not asleep, took his assault rifle and shot
the lieutenant and the sergeant."
"After the gunshots, three other soldiers rushed to the post and
[Ayvazian] gunned them down too and committed suicide," he said.
The incident, apparently the deadliest ever non-combat shooting in
the Armenian Armed Forces, occurred the day after another army officer
was found shot dead on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. The Defense
Ministry claimed that Lieutenant Artak Nazarian, 30, most probably
committed suicide. Nazarian's relatives strongly denied that, saying
that he was murdered by fellow servicemen.
The state human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, on Friday
expressed serious concern about both incidents highlighting lingering
abuse and other serious problems within the military. In a written
statement, Harutiunian said they "complement a spate of murders
committed at various army detachments" and will have "a negative
influence on the army's combat-readiness and the moral-psychological
state of the society."
From: A. Papazian