Human rights activist Zhanna Aleksanyan referred to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s note, which said that there were few historic deaths in the army in 2019.

“Yesterday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted a note on Facebook announcing that deaths in the army were “at a historic minimum”. Nikol Pashinyan has obviously reduced the death toll in the army as an achievement of his power. The Prime Minister, however, made no reference to the source. I assume he relied on the prosecution’s data, which divided the deaths of 49 conscripts in 2019 into those connected to military service and those who are not connected with it and received a “historic” minimum. If, for example, a serviceman was found at home hanging from a rope, then the prosecution says it had nothing to do with the military, and ‘have they ever found where to look for the cause of death, whether at home or in a military unit?’ Of course no: The overwhelming majority of suicide cases are homicides that are covered by the prosecution itself and it is natural to report as it wishes. One of the Deputy Defense Ministers said they had no weapons at home, they are committing suicide in the military unit…. This is how the army is cleansed, not by profound revelations and excluding deaths. It is a pity that for two years we have not seen the prime minister’s serious reference to these issues. I would like to remind that 49 soldiers were killed in the army in 2019, all of which are related to military service,” she said.