Human rights activist criticizes Armenia`s Ministry of Defense and  Suren Papikyan for silence regarding the death of serviceman Torosyan

ArmInfo. Human rights activist Zhanna Aleksanyan has criticized the Armenian Ministry of Defense, represented by Suren Papikyan, for its silence regarding the death of conscript Narek Torosyan.

"For the second day, the Ministry of Defense has remained silent  regarding the death of 20-year-old serviceman Narek Torosyan. The  primary responsibility for the serviceman's death lies with the  Ministry of Defense, headed by Minister Suren Papikyan. The minister  has still provided no explanations or clarifications. I am certain  that the minister has not visited the military unit to ascertain  on-site why and how the incident occurred. This is a matter of  responsibility toward the serviceman's life, his family, and our  society. The minister behaves in an utterly detached manner regarding  these deaths," Aleksanyan wrote on her Facebook page.

According to her, when summarizing the year-end results, Papikyan  attempts to downplay the figures, yet there is no genuine effort to  reduce the number of fatalities. The human rights activist also  considers the version of "suicide" circulating in the press to be  unacceptable.

"The press can at best learn about a serviceman's death, but not the  circumstances surrounding it. Law enforcement agencies are often the  ones leaking such hypotheses to the press, which then serve as the  basis for the 'suicide' theory they themselves put forward. Moreover,  cases of 'suicide' in the army are predominantly unsolved murders.  Dear colleagues, do not write so lightly about suicides. I deeply  sympathize with the family and relatives of this talented young man,  Narek," Aleksanyan concluded.