Beyond Absurdity...

UPDATE: Lragir has published an article outlining several more inconsistencies from the forensic exam.

This is just absurd.

In addition to the numerous signs of violence on his body, the autopsy findings on Artak Nazaryan reveal that there was a hole caused by a gunshot in his tongue.

This would mean that he place the muzzle of the rifle under or in front of his tongue, which seems counterintuitive for someone who is alone, committing suicide.

It does seem completely consistent with the theory that the muzzle was forcibly put in his mouth.

"These things don't happen in the Armenian Army..." Really?

This is what is wrong with the recent responses of the Seyran Ohanyan's Ministry of Defense. They put the cart before the horse, and deny the obvious and known. Now, I'm not sure they're as bad, or at least as obvious, as Alik Sargsyan's Police Department - I say I'm not sure, I just don't have enough information - but that's not really saying much. What am I talking about? Let's take two recent occurrences - 1)the death of Artak Nazaryan and 2)the recent YouTube video.

In the case of the first, Artak Nazaryan's mother set out, in a well balanced, both logical and emotional public letter to Seyran Ohanyan, her specific concerns and doubts regarding the investigation into her son's alleged suicide. His response was just published on Lragir in Armenian here. The english is not available, but for those interested the google translation is understandable, and here is the summary:

Paragraph 1: You have doubts about the criminal investigation, you think it is flawed
Par 2: I am sorry for your loss. Under article 110 paragraph 1 and article 375 paragraph 2, Captain Hakob Manukyan is being charged.
Par 3: 3 others are charged with Article 358, paragraph 2, point 3
Par 4: This issue is important, continues to be investigated, is under my direct supervision, a detailed investigation has been ordered so that those guilty can be punished and so that such things do not happen again
Final Par: I am ready to have a private meeting with you, and have the head of the investigation answer your questions in my presence

A couple of things are missing for me here: an acknowledgement or validation of her detailed concerns regarding the serious flaws in the investigation, and a sense of transparency regarding the outcome. That is, why does it have to be a private meeting? Additionally, and maybe I'm just being picky, but really, I would have expected more with regards to a sense of loss, a sense of loss for the family, for the army, and for the entire country. And if the investigation is not complete, how do you already "know" it was suicide (and how did you "know" it was suicide so soon)? I have to say, its not a good response, but its not utterly horrific. Somewhere in there I think I see a glimpse of a shred of concern - but honestly, I can't tell if this is real, or they just have a writer who has some sense of what to write.

On to #2. The video which was pulled off of YouTube and DailyMotion, but then reappeared with some restrictions on YouTube. Some bloggers posted it after downloading, and apparently were criticized for it - parts of Ara Manoogian's comment on Unzipped's blog (both of them posted the video):

Open Letter To Seyran Ohanyan, from the Mother of Artak Nazaryan

[The following is copied and pasted directly from online sources English, Armenian:Արտակ Նազարյանի մոր բաց նամակը Սեյրան Օհանյանին,

with a typographical correction done on September 13]

Hasmik Hovhannisyan, mother of contract soldier Artak Nazaryan who died on July 27 in the military unit of the Mehrab village, Tavush Marz, has written an open letter to Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan. We present that letter in its entirety below:

At 7:00 AM on July 27th, according to the official version, my son Artak Nazaryan ostensibly “committed suicide.” I maintain that my son could never have done such a thing. He believed in God, he had a Father Confessor, he was a member of the Holy Trinity Fraternal Order up until he received his orders from the Ministry of Defense and began to work. For him, God’s laws had become flesh and blood, and he clearly knew that not only murder is a sin, but suicide, as well, and for that greatest of sins the punishment would be horrible.

I know that to speak of higher spiritual values is ludicrous for you.

They killed my son. They killed him in a premeditated manner and in calculated, cold blood. They eliminated from their path the light that perturbed them, the good and the honest. Such animals are evil and are the product of an atmosphere of impunity. They are not ordinary murderers; they are traitors to the fatherland who brutally kill and obliterate the officer who defends the border.

To hide the traces of their brutality, they elevated his body above the 300-meter position, placed him in the enemy’s line of sight, relying on the shots of enemy snipers. But the Turks realized that if the officer leaning there was not already killed, then he was half dead, and the Armenians needed a pretext to blame the enemy side for the death of the soldier killed by their own hands. But having been proven wrong in their calculations, and to put an end to the problem of the half dead officer, they placed the barrel of the automatic weapon in his mouth, and fired. Rather than calling a doctor, helping him, washing his innumerable wounds before killing him—and with that easing their guilt—they went to the very end.

It is not known by whose order such people were being protected, from the beginning, hiding the obvious murder under the shroud of “suicide.” Those working in that direction, by deliberately distorting evidence, supposedly push the work forward in the name of the Armenian Army. They, too, are traitors to the nation and the fatherland. And with that action, they are casting down even further the pride of the army, putting a stamp of blood and shame on the army and on the brow of its leadership.

The only way to wash off the blood and shame is through a fair investigation, which from the beginning has suffered serious shortcomings.

They did not lift fingerprints from my son, according to them, before his body cooled; they worked without gloves; the house where my son lived was not sealed off. Ten days after the incident a search was conducted at his house, from which my son’s 2010 diary was not found. Nothing was said about the seized material. I don’t know whether the military bag and winter jacket he took with him this time still exist, or not.

My son’s body was sent to Yerevan completely naked. Where are my son’s military uniforms? I have put stitches on those uniforms with my own hands and know them well; perhaps they are going to exchange them. There would be numerous marks left on the uniform from a brutally committed murder.

To preserve the body, they asked us for 40 kilograms of ice. It wasn’t enough that a horrific crime, which has no name, had been committed. And after all that, to ease out of their guilt, they wanted to send him home in a closed casket; and only after my begging and pleading did they fix his face, covering it with a ton of makeup, bringing him home on the 29th, at the end of a work day. Already at that time there were worms in his nose, for which we invited a doctor. He cleaned his nostrils of the worms and sealed them with special fluids.

The next day, on July 30th, we buried him. His body was in a horrible state. This is evidence that the event did not happen on July 27th, but earlier, on the night of the 24th. Where was his body placed until he was moved to Yerevan, and why? There was not going to be an autopsy at that place, they only acted that way to take off his clothing, a favor for some people.

One of the pallbearers of my dead son’s body was the battalion commander. He was untroubled, and spoke as though nothing had happened. He was that commander about whom my son had spoken with his father, saying, ‘Father, there are two individuals after me, the political officer and the battalion commander, especially the latter.’

All the necessary information which should have helped to solve the case has been deliberately delayed, which speaks to the fact that the case is being led, purposefully, in another direction to cover up for the beastly army commanders who stick close to their feeding troughs, and for the battalion commander who told my husband who had gone to receive my son’s body, and in the presence of relatives, that my son was a weak officer.

To my husband’s question as to who was the first to see the body, the political officer answered that he had, and that supposedly he had found a suicide note in my son’s pocket and had kept it.

The note was discovered two days after my son’s house was searched, and his house was searched ten days after the incident. Investigator Madatyan hastily sent off the forged note found for examination. That forged note isn’t worth a penny for me, based on its content; it was written after the murder.

My son’s notebook, which I don’t know if was stolen from his house or, according to their version, taken from his pocket, was ripped apart like my son’s body. They had removed all of the pages and left only three dated pages and one torn page where the word “suicide” had been forged. They didn’t show us the original; how many secrets the original would have revealed…

Does the person about to commit “suicide” climb 300 meters, torment his own body, smash his own head and teeth, fire into his own mouth and not on the bestial torturers?

Mr. Minister, a question arises: How is it that a 30-year-old young man who had graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State Institute, being inexperienced in the filthy dealings of the military of which you are well aware, and who had treated the soldiers of the battalion as his own brothers, who loved the Lord, would forget all and commit suicide?

Why do you not, the head of the entire system, although they say even of you that you are a feeble minister who has no say in anything, want to cleanse the army and the entire structure of the blood and filth, and truly punish the guilty? If that task is beyond your capabilities, then you too, like my son, should commit “suicide” and leave a genuine note saying that as a high-ranking military man, you are ashamed to have such a corrupt Armenian army.

So then, all those who wittingly or unwittingly participated in the murder of my son—beginning with the commander who issued the order and whom you relieved of his responsibilities rather than arrest; the soldiers who witnessed the incident; those who instigated the fight; those who committed the actual violent acts; those who held his arms down; those who bashed his head in (i.e., the political officer, as a result of whose assault, if my son didn’t die, was rendered unconscious and left in that condition for days on end until they could decide what to do next); the inspector; those who moved his body and whose crude fingerprints were left on the broken arms of my son, ending with those who have buried the system in corruption and whose hands are stained not only with the blood of my son, but also of many other youths like my son—you should make all of them stand before a tribunal not as ordinary criminals but as traitors to the fatherland, traitors for whom there is no sanctity except their bellies. In times of war, traitors to the fatherland are shot by a firing squad.

Mother of Nazaryan, Hasmik Hovhannisyan
In a postscript in the letter sent to Seyran Ohanyan through the online newspaper Lragir.am Hasmik Hovhannisyan has also noted: “I wanted to send this letter to you directly, but convinced that such letters are never read, I preferred to publish it in the press so that you would be forced to read it.”

[The picture is used with permission]

Unnecessary deaths in the Armenian Armed Forces

First and foremost, my sincerest condolences to all of the family and friends of those soldiers who died this past week. May they rest in peace.

I'm writing this post late not because I just found out about the recent events, but rather, because I did not, and still do not, know how to say all that I have to say. But after almost one week, I've given up on the hope that if I sit on it, my thoughts will come to order. And so here it goes. (Other bloggers writing in English, including unzipped, ditord, and nazarian had great posts, which I encourage you to read).

I took this photo years ago, probably the late 1990s or so (which may explain why the emblem is different). It was on a military uniform jacket, being sold in one of the open markets in Yerevan, probably more for tourist/diasporan consumption. It was marketable because it personified Armenian military strength and courage, Armenian unity and prowess. Completely outnumbered and underfinanced, Armenia and NK had won a war against Azerbaijan. It was because of our Herculean strength and courage, we wanted to believe. Because of our will. The same will and strength and courage of centuries past, which lives on in songs of Armenian victories against impossible odds. And what else could it have been but those attributes, when our fighters were victorious despite being underfed, frozen, and outnumbered. And the legend lived on...

And so I imagine now that I am a young man doing my required time or serving otherwise in the army- there is probably about a 40-50% chance that I was protesting against the present government just over 2 years ago; it is very possible that someone I know may have been beaten or imprisoned. Maybe I am not politically active for whatever reason, and just think all politics are false pretenses and all politicians are liars - I probably still, in this case, have many questions and concerns about the current situation... And now I serve in an Army where beating conscripts is required, NOT beating them is unacceptable. On many levels, the violence that the authorities were and are willing to perpetrate against their own civilians (via the armed forces, might I add), mirrors the violence that army officials perpetrate against their own soldiers - in fact, any perceived act of insubordination by footsoldiers is met with abuse, and any disagreement or individual opinion from those highly educated is met with "mysterious suicides." I see high-ranking officials with stuffed pockets, and even the Minister of Defense, Seyran Ohanyan*, is reputed to own the Pyramida Complex, which includes a night club with its own "Girls." And when, despite these obstacles, I try to take pride in the Armed forces of my Country, I look to my leadership and government, and there is no hint of true strategy or plan with regards to the NK issue - nothing except that they will do what it takes to keep themselves in power.

I cannot imagine how stressful this must be, and for some, how inhumane the life they lead under these circumstances. I imagine this as the baseline existence for those who serve our country now. It does not take too great a feat of imagination unfortunately, to envision how, under such circumstances, an educated man such as Artak - refusing to give in to pressure to commit violence upon others, to become part of a cycle of violence - could have met with such violence from his own superiors; or how an already unbalanced individuals, whose instability and unfit status to serve was overlooked time and again, could have caused such horrific damage.

I know that abusive behavior in the Armenian Army is not new, though it has definitely not gotten better, and by most accounts, has worsened substantially. And to have the day to day existence described about, makes it only worse - and could not really have come at a worse time. Given that such unnecessary abuse and death in the Armenian army may not be new, the question arises, why is it causing such a ruckus now? I would say for a few reasons- the general social distrust in society which has only strengthened since March 1; the difficult geopolitical moment with NK and foreign entities; the obvious and absolutely heinous reality that seven Armenian soldiers died unnecessarily and for unacceptable reasons; and, at least to some extent, the fact that Artak Nazaryan is the brother of Tsovinar Nazaryan, a well spoken, extremely bright and well-respected young journalist who was studying abroad in the US at the time of her brother's death.

The argument has been put forth by several that I have seen, and undoubtedly countless more (including ditord), that bringing such topics to the forefront is against the best interest of the country. I think it is a valid question that must be asked, however, in the end, I do not believe the premise that discussing openly these unacceptable abuses of power is wrong. As I have nothing too new to add to the arguments already made in the comments section of ditord's blog, I refer you to those. Though, now that I think about it, such arguments, against revealing, discussing and addressing these types of problems, are also used in other cases that are generally considered shameful - domestic violence, HIV, prostitution, poverty, to name a few. They all need to be addressed, in my point of view, without shame, but an open mind, and a hope for a better future for all of us.
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By now, over 50 pieces have probably been written about the death of Artak Nazaryan, and the six who died just a day later (see articles in Hetq, Tert, A1plus, Lragir and Armenian Times, for starters). After the initial reports, a few articles were written that stand out and are very much worth reading, even if only in googletranslate (Բա՛րձր պահեք հայ սպայի պատիվը՝ հեռացե՛ք այս կյանքից,Մի օր պայթելու է, Չի´ կարելի լռել, Ինքնասպան լինեք դո՛ւք, Ինչո՞ւ և ի՞նչ անել, որ «ինչու»-ներ չլինեն). As Unzipped and others have pointed out, there are now several Facebook Groups on the subject: Չի´ կարելի լռել and Սեյրան Օհանյան եւ Ալիկ Սարգսյան՝ ինքնասպան եղե՛ք.
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If we are to see ourselves, and truly be, of Herculean strength, as a nation, a country, and an army, then we have a long way to go. And unless we accept this, we will never get there.

My condolences, again, to the families of the seven lost to us:
Artak Nazaryan,
and
Robert Hovhannisyan, Andranik Sargsyan, Vardges Tadavosyan, Karo Ayvazyan, Garegin Hovsepyan, and Artyom Manasyan
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*The following quote is also attributed to Seyran Ohanyan:

"Any attempt at demonstrating (rallies) will immediately result in adequate and strict reaction by the armed forces."

(March, 2008)
Given his connection to the Pyramida Complex - he will henceforth be known to me as Բուրգի Սեյրանը ("Burgi Seyran - Seyran of the Pyramid")