With poor health draftees will face serious challenges in army

With poor health draftees will face serious challenges in army – activist

Saturday, 30 July 2011 09:28

Tert.AM — Rights activist Arthur Sakunts has said it is important
that healthy people be drafted to the army.

In a press conference on Friday Sakunts, the head of the Vanadzor
Office of Helsinki Civil Assembly, said that those people drafted to
the army with poor health are facing serious challenges there.

`A person with vulnerable health is subject to greater hardships [in
the army],’ said Sakunts, adding that the list of illnesses changes
over time.

`So, it in 2006 a deferment would be offered [to a draftee] for
flat-footedness, now it has been removed [from the list],’ explained
he.

Sakunts also said if three or four years ago young men with certain
illnesses were considered not worth drafting, now the situation has
changed and such people are being drafted.

`… And an ill person is being drafted to the army,’ he added.

Further, he spoke about a conscript named Robert Hovhannisyan, who was
diagnosed with infantilism, had serious sight problems; one of his
legs was shorter from the other, but was drafted to the army and is
now at the military hospital in Sisian town in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor
province.

Avetik Ishkhanyan, the president of the Armenian Helsinki Committee,
said that if there are no complaints in any system, it means the
situation is very grave there.

`Government officials themselves do not deny that the situation in the
army is bad, but the conscripts never complain about that situation,’
he explained.

`Such an atmosphere has been created where complaining is forbidden,’ said he.

Ishkhanyan further said that recently a parent of a conscript came to
him and complained about bad hygiene conditions in that military unit
in the regions of Vardenis where his son is now doing his military
service, but asked his name to be kept secret as his son would face
problems there.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress