Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

HCA Vanadzor finds problematic adoption of the provision in the draft addenda and amendments to the Law on Military Service and Status of a Serviceperson (which has been put for public discussion) concerning changes in part 4 of Article 26 on conditions regarding serving in the same military unit if brothers are conscripted for compulsory military service simultaneously or if one of the brothers is already serving military service.

Adoption of the draft legal act is based on the justification that in case the other brother conscripted does not have a relevant specialization (driver’s license), he cannot be sent to the military unit where his brother is serving military service. It is thus proposed to refuse the conscript’s application to be sent to his brother’s military unit in cases when only specialized positions shall be replenished in the military unit and the conscripted brother does not have the relevant specialization. 

The author of the draft, i.e., the RA Ministry of Defense, specified existence of a “driver’s license” as “the relevant specialization”, which means that by the proposed change this provision shall oblige enlisted brothers to have a driver’s specialization in order to exercise their right under part 4 of Article 26. Whereas in practice, enlisted brothers may not have a driver’s specialization for various objective and subjective reasons.

We find that this regulation is discriminatory towards conscripts who do not have the specialization that their brother serving military service does.

In addition, the condition that there might not be planned replenishment of the military service where the brother is serving is also an obstacle to brothers serving in the same military unit.

Taking into account the condition that cases of brothers being drafted together or a serviceperson being drafted to the same military unit as his brother objectively cannot be significant and cannot have a negative impact on the army’s combat capability, and that united service of brothers stems from the best interests of servicepersons in the sense that the drafted brother will be able to integrate in military service easily due to his brother’s support, which will contribute to his proper performance of military obligations, we propose

• not to form the precondition of planned replenishment of the military unit where the brother is serving and the drafted brother’s specialization for the provision of brothers serving in the same military unit under part 4 of Article 26 of the Law, and thus give an opportunity to brothers to serve in the same military unit.