Wednesday, September 02, 2009

This is what you get when there is no respect for humans in the society.

I have posted about the degradation of the Armenian society quite a few times. My main concern is the absence of respect for fellow human beings. It is perpetrated by people from the whole continuum of the society with the worst layer being the mafioso style political and economic "elite" of the country.

Yesterday a conscript soldier, Aram Mkrtchian, died in a hospital ICU in Yerevan. He had been subjected to a severe physical assault by his commanding officer, Captain Andok Galstian. The captain has now confessed his crime. If he has government connections, he will probably get away with probation now.

Unfortunately, such behavior towards the conscripts is not uncommon.

A friend of mine was executed by his commanding officer in the early 90-s when the army was still forming and I had hoped that 17 years later the bad apples would be weeded out. There has been some progress as the murders and abuse have declined over the years. I think, though, that not enough is being done. After all, how can you expect a soldier to stand and fight if he is abused? We see soldiers cross the border to Azerbaijan because of this seeking better treatment in the hands of the enemy as a POW. The Azeris have a similar issue in their army and we see their soldiers cross into Armenia, too.

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