Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

On November 10, 2018, the training held in Abovyan city of Kotayk region finally completed the series of trainings on the rights and obligations of servicemen and conscripts conducted by HCA Vanadzor. During the period of September-November 2018, trainings were also held in various urban and rural residence areas of Lori, Aragatsotn, Shirak, Tavush and Ararat regions.

In general, 156 conscripts, servicemen and their family members took part in the trainings.

Armine Sadikyan, Coordinator of Peacebuilding Projects of HCA Vanadzor, and lawyer Syuzanna Soghomonyan provided the participants with information on military enlistment of pre-conscription age persons, procedures of conscription and military service, the rights and obligations of conscripts during the conscription and those of servicemen during the military service.

Armine Sadikyan gave detailed information on the rights of pre-conscription persons, conscripts and servicemen during medical examinations, the types of military service, the types of leaves allocated to servicemen, the procedures for their allocation, timeframes, encouragement and disciplinary penalties, law procedures on citizens who did not perform compulsory military service in violation of the established procedure.

Syuzanna Soghomonyan touched upon the appeal mechanisms pertaining to decisions of fitness for military service as well as the activity of the Organization in that field.

Apart from that, the latest legislative changes as well as the issues that are common practice were presented to the participants.

The participants had the opportunity to present the problems that they encountered in various situations and places, they were provided with legal advice, when necessary, health status and other medical examination documents of conscripts or servicemen were studied, upon which the doctor-expert of the Organization gave medical conclusions which later served as a basis for appealing the decisions of those cases.

The participants were mainly interested in the grounds for military service deferment and exemption, alternative types of military and labor service, their rights during medical examinations, opportunities of continuing their education alongside the military service. They presented the issues and obstacles they encountered during medical examinations, in particular, their discontent concerning the quality of medical examination.

In all the regions, the participants underscored the importance of their constant awareness of their rights, especially among persons of preconscription age.

Within the framework of the trainings, an informative brochure was presented on persons subject to military enlistment in the RA, rights and obligations of conscripts and servicemen. The brochure is available on the Organization website.

The series of the trainings were conducted within the framework of ‘Human Rights Training for Conscripts’ project with the financial support of National Endowment for Democracy (NED)  fund.

Photos of the conducted trainings are available on HCA Vanadzor facebook page.

⇒photos of trainings conducted in Lori and Aragatsotn regions

⇒photos of trainings conducted in Dilijan 

⇒photos of trainings conducted in Aygestan village of Ararat region

⇒photos of trainings conducted in Abovyan