|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|||||
|
May 20, 2004 National Citizens’ Initiative Examines Army and Society Yerevan—The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) convened today a policy discussion on “Army and Society” to address the challenges which the Armenian public faces in the military sphere and to search for optimal solutions to the problems in army-society interrelations. Public alienation, draft evasion, issues of law and justice in the armed forces, and the roles of political forces, civil society, and the intelligentsia in strengthening the army were in the focus of the day's deliberations.
Raffi Hovannisian, founder of NCI and the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), greeted the capacity audience with opening remarks. “We trust that today’s multidisciplinary discussion will help define contemporary army-related challenges, ascertain the level of military-society relations, and offer effective solutions, all with the expectation of holding a broader conference together with the Defense Ministry in the near future,” Hovannisian said. During the first session Lieutenant Colonel Sedrak Sedrakian, chief of the Defense Ministry’s legal department, delivered a paper on “The Armenian Armed Forces Today: Achievements, Challenges, and Relevant Legislation.” The armed forces’ strong legislative foundations are accompanied both by reinforcement of legal requirements and by expansion of rights and privileges, he maintained. “The legislative field for the armed forces already is established in Armenia and has a dynamic character, hence enabling development and adoption of a comprehensive legislative conception.”
Colonel Vardan Avetisian, chief of the Defense Ministry’s educational department, addressed “The Principles of Legality and Justice: A Look at Interpersonal Relations among Soldiers and Officers.” “The restrictions and stringent enforcement mechanisms currently being applied in the army are aimed at fostering high military readiness and every individual's personal responsibility toward his military service. “The public cannot treat the army as a stepchild, because justice and legality are just as important in the service as in society,” Avetisian said. Avetik Ishkhanian, chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Committee, concluded the session with a paper on “Civil Society-Armed Forces Relations” based on his own investigations. “Crimes committed in the army, violations of soldiers' rights, and other breaches presently are considered a taboo. The homicides and other crimes we occasionally hear about result mainly from demands outside of regulations,”asserted the human rights advocate, opining that the army should be fully apoliticized and gradually transform into a professional system. Reflecting on audience questions that sparked particular interest, the speakers noted the measures required to rule out the custom of “dedovshchina” widely inherited from the Soviet period, to prevent provenance- triggered confrontations among soldiers, to continue exercise of postponed enlistment entitlements for those in higher academic courses, to regulate specific manifestations of various sects, and to enhance the patriotic education of the youth. The second session was completely devoted to exchanges of views and policy recommendations among the public figures and policy specialists in attendance. Noteworthy were contributions by General Arkadiy Ter-Tadevosian, chairman of the Armenian Defense-Sport Association; Colonel Gegham Haroutiunian, political council member of the Republic party; Tamar Gevorgian of the United Labor Party; Vahagn Gevorgian, expert of the Commission on Defense, National Security, and Internal Affairs of the Armenian parliament; law professor Hrair Tovmasian; Hrant Khachatrian of the Constitutional Law Union; former minister of state Hrach Hakobian; Vardan Khachatrian, theology professor at Yerevan State University; Hovhannes Hovhannisian of the Liberal Progressive Party; Davit Petrosian of the Noyan Tapan News agency; academician Rafael Ghazarian of the Armenian Intellectuals’ Forum; Petros Makeyan of the Democratic Fatherland party; Greta Mirzoyan of the “Soldier's Mother”NGO; former defense minister Vazgen Manukian; and many others. The majority of interventions concentrated on ensuring the rule of law in the army, achieving higher levels of military efficacy in the armed forces, pursuing the imperative of patriotic upbringing, and realizing the public's potential to these ends. ACNIS analyst Hovsep Khurshudian closed the seminar with summary remarks. “It is evident that today’s deliberations have given one further opportunity for relevant high-ranking officials and public representatives together to refocus on the army’s problems and its relations with society, and once more to be convinced that these issues need deeper examination.”
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
