HR DEFENDER'S OFFICE CREATES MILITARY POSITION

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000720 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC AND DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM MARR AM SUBJECT: HR DEFENDER'S OFFICE CREATES MILITARY POSITION ¶1. The Armenian government has created a new position within the office of Human Rights Defender (ombudsman) Armen Harutyunyan intended to follow up complaints of human rights abuses in the ranks of the Armenian military. The Ministry of Defense proposed the position to the ombudsman in late 2006, to fulfill one of its stated NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) goals. ¶2. Harutyunyan told us May 31 that the new staffer would take complaints from soldiers about their treatment or conditions while in military service. He suggested the institution might take some time to pick up steam, as soldiers did not like to complain or answer questions. He said he currently does not receive many complaints from the military, but that he expected the number to go up as the armed forces became more comfortable with the new position. Harutyunyan told us he did not know when the position would be filled, though a Ministry of Defense spokesman has said publicly that it would be filled by mid-June. He also did not know if the position would be filled by a serving military officer, retired officer, or civilian. ¶3. COMMENT: Like many Soviet successor states, the Armenian military continues to have a problem with so-called "dedovshina": the serious hazing of junior recruits by more senior conscripts. This practice kills or maims a handful of military conscripts each year, and many others suffer abuse. Creation of a specialized ombudsman position to investigate abuses is a good step, but will only be effective if the new military ombudsman is more energetic than Harutyunian is, and if the MOD proves itself responsive to the new official's interventions. GODFREY