Another unfit Armenian conscript to be sent for military service
By Rashid Shirinov
Stories about injustice while conscripting young Armenians to serving in the army know no end. Another such story is about a conscript Lernik Usikyan.
His application was considered at a hearing of the Public Council under the Minister of Justice on December 25. During the meeting, Lernik showed his feet, where wounds could be seen with the naked eye. The conscript noted that he limps while walking.
His mother added that doctor in the medical center in Gyumri city told that Usikyan will not be able to wear military boots and that he must wear only soft shoes.
“One of the main criteria of military service is the ability of a serviceman to wear uniforms. If health does not allow him to do so, then he cannot serve,” confirmed the chairman of the Public Council Gegham Harutyunyan, Epress.am reported.
However, the Council eventually decided that the demonstration of the wounded and deformed foot by Usikyan is not a proof – only a medical certificate is taken into account.
However, it is almost impossible for an Armenian conscript to get any certificate from medical institutions. The Gyumri medical center was not an exception – having learned that Usikyan is draftee, the center refused to provide any paper.
Representative of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly Armine Sadikyan has also noted at a recent press conference that civil hospitals in Armenia refuse to issue medical certificates to conscripts. In her opinion, this demonstrates the existence of a special order from the authorities.
Sadikyan noted that the Vanadzor office received 59 applications on violating the rights of conscripts during the last conscription campaigns, and 50 of them were associated with health problems.
“During medical examination, if someone’s medical history has records about a moderate or extremely severe illness, they replace the formulation with the word “insignificant,” which already allows a certain level of fitness for service,” the human rights activist noted.
Thus, conscript Usikyan’s wounds and limp means nothing to the military authorities of Armenia, and, on the other hand, it is impossible to get a medical certificate for release from the army service. In this way, hundreds of Armenian draftees are annually sent to military units, and many of them ultimately get a more severe illness or even die there.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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