Lawyer, public figure Mamikon Khurshudyan wrote on his Facebook page a few days ago that the participants of the 44-day Artsakh war, who do not have lower limbs, were deprived of the first group of disabilities.
Mamikon Kurshudyan
In an interview with Iravaban.net , he said that this problem started last year. “Last year, when that wave started, mostly boys with disabilities of the 3rd group were deprived. Boys with disabilities of the first group did not have that “threats” yet.”
Khurshudyan mentioned that he learned about the problem from the participants of the war.
“I regularly emphasize that the moral aspect of this problem is not taken into account at all. There are such clarifications that if the boys got prosthetics financed by the state, then they are already full human beings and can go and work.
Most of the boys received prosthetics with the funds of private foundations. They say that the legs had to be amputated above the knee to stay in the first group. There are such standards,” Khurshudyan said.
He also said that the parents of the boys are dealing with the issue, and one of the lawyers has also expressed willingness to dispute the issue in court.
Zara Manucharyan
Iravaban.net also contacted the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
“I cannot comment on a specific case, because it contains a medical secret. But, if the citizen finds that his group is not for him, he can appeal. There is a three-level appeal system. At first, they can write an application in the name of the head of the Unified Social Service. A committee will be formed and re-examination of the disability group review will be conducted. If after that the citizen does not agree with the decision made, he can appeal again, in that case he will already fill out an application in the name of the minister, after that the experts will study the documents and either change the decision or it will remain the same,” Zara Manucharyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said.
We also talked with Hovsep Arakelyan and Aram Arzumanyan, who lost their legs as a result of the war, and now they also have the first group of disabilities.
Hovsep said that he has appealed and will have to go for examination again on 26 June. On that day, it will be clear whether they will change the group or not.
“I explain to them that if the state gave me prostheses, and my left leg is constantly inflamed, I can’t wear prosthesis, then how can you give me a disability of the second group?” They say that if they are bedridden and cannot move, they are left in the first group. In other words, he must be in a wheelchair to be considered fully disabled. From time to time my leg gets inflamed, sometimes both legs, it turns out that I am bedridden for about a week. It turns out that I am neither fully disabled of the second group, nor of the first. That’s how it was decided that a second group should be given,” Hovsep Arakelyan said.
He mentioned that he has not applied to anyone so far, if they leave the same disability group again on 26 June, he will already think about who to apply to.
“Both of my legs are amputated. They said that as I got prosthetics from the state, therefore I was transferred from the first group to the second group, but I got prosthetics at the Soldier’s House, with the fund’s money, because it was not possible to buy these prostheses with the state’s money,” Aram Arzumanyan said.
According to him, he appealed once; they reviewed it and again left him in the 2nd group. He appealed again. According to Aram, if he is not transferred to the first group again, he will go to court.
“I will go till the end; I will apply to the European Court. I have problems, I submitted various applications. I asked them to change my prostheses again. They changed my prostheses within 6 months. After that, problems arose again; wounds and formations constantly appear on my legs. I have a medical certificate stating that wearing prosthesis causes problems with my legs.
When I complained for the first time, I also presented that paper, but they said that it was not a basis. They said, “There are no wounds on your legs right now.” At the moment, my legs still have wounds, bruises, one part is swollen, in fact, I can’t wear a prosthesis at the moment,” Aram Arzumanyan said.
It should be noted that the disability of the first group is defined for a period of two years, the disability of the second and third groups is defined for a period of one year.
On 14 June, during the question-and-answer session with the Government in the National Assembly, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Narek Mkrtchyan , also touched on this topic, noting that the issue is always in the center of attention of the Ministry.
“And in general, how the medico-social examination is done, it is special medico-social examination commissions made up of the health system, i.e. doctors, who evaluate not only the medical or health condition of the person, but also the functionality, and an assessment is given according to the functionality. The reason why there is a change in their disability group is due to the fact that mostly the participants of the war, when they received a certain disability group, it happened before undergoing prosthetics, in fact, our soldiers had a functional problem, that is, a mobility problem. Therefore, during that period, it is very possible that they received the first group, and to reach the stage of prosthetics, we often had boys, which have been waiting for a year or months. Therefore, after receiving the prosthesis, a re-examination takes place, as a result of which a decision is made, if, for example, the function is restored, that is, they have mobility, therefore a change is made in the disability group,” the Minister said.
Hasmik Sargsyan
