Armenia Failed to Ensure Soldier's Right to Life and Conduct an Impartial Investigation, ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled on the case of Artak Nazaryan, who died in the army in 2010, noting that Armenian authorities first failed to guarantee the serviceman's right to life and then mishandled the impartial investigation into the matter.

The Strasbourg court specifically highlighted that several serious inaccuracies occurred during the criminal investigation, which were subsequently justified in Armenian legal proceedings and in explanations presented by the Government to the European court as resulting from "technical" or "mechanical" errors. Given these shortcomings, the relatives questioned the official version that Nazaryan had committed suicide.

However, the case presented to the European court did not allow for the assumption that the lieutenant was murdered. At the same time, the court emphasized that "the state is responsible for the serviceman who committed suicide during service, who was subjected to humiliation and mistreatment."

Due to the absence of a psychological support system in the armed forces, such support was not provided to Artak Nazaryan despite the apparent risk that he might take his own life, the European court stated, obliging the Government to pay Nazaryan's relatives €20,000 in non-material damages and €3,500 for legal costs.

Five of Lieutenant Artak Nazaryan's fellow servicemen were found guilty of contributing to his suicide; they were sentenced to 3-10 years in prison in 2013.