We Must Learn Lessons from the Storage of Soldiers' Remains and Bodies in the Morgue: Pashinyan

During today’s government meeting, Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the issue of the preservation of soldiers' remains and bodies in the Abovyan morgue. He asked, “Is this the state or government’s attitude towards fallen soldiers and, in general, the deceased? To find an answer to this question, I would like the acting Minister of Health to explain what has happened.”

Acting Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan stated that before 2018, the forensic medical center operating under the ministry had only the morgue in Yerevan. She noted that there were no branches in the regions at all. “The forensic service in Yerevan had 25 refrigerated spaces, and now it has about 200 refrigerated spaces,” the acting minister explained. According to her, the central morgue in Yerevan was fully renovated in 2018 and the refrigeration units were equipped with new laboratory equipment, while the Morgue in Metsamor was renovated in 2020, and the Abovyan morgue was overhauled. Additionally, a new refrigerated section is currently under construction, and the Martuni branch is being improved.

“The salaries of employees have increased by 25%,” Avanesyan reported. The acting prime minister added that the budget for this system has increased by 117 million drams in 2019 compared to 2018 and by 230 million drams in 2020. “Now, why do we have the scene we see as a result of these changes? Because we are changing the system, but changing people is not that easy,” Pashinyan remarked. He noted that there was no DNA testing equipment in Armenia before May 2018. According to Pashinyan, this demonstrates the government’s attitude toward the situation.

“All those involved in that incident have been dismissed, but when reforms occur in the systems, we see protests and complaints that people are being fired,” he noted. The acting prime minister emphasized that numerous employees of the forensic medical center have been working practically 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without breaks during this period. “Moreover, under pressure, often facing insults, and their work must not go unappreciated,” he stressed. Pashinyan mentioned that lessons must be learned from this incident; however, the government or the Minister of Health cannot visit every place every day to see how each is functioning.

“At this moment, essentially, the DNA testing process has reached its final stage; we have bodies that have not been identified. However, we also have relatives of the missing who, for various reasons, have not provided DNA samples. We have also identified bodies that, for various reasons, have not been collected by relatives. There are both objective and subjective reasons, and we have about 50 remains from which DNA has not been obtained even after the fourth and fifth attempts. To clarify these cases, we must turn to our international partners,” Pashinyan stated.