Yurik Broyan, a 19-year-old resident of Jrarat village, Armavir province of Yezidi origin, has a genetic mental illness. His uncle has the same illness, and his brother is epileptic. Nevertheless, in August, the Central Military Medical Commission examined the young man and wrote in his medical records “light mental retardation” diagnosis. Yurik, who suffers from mental illness and has tendency of causing self-injuries, was recognized fit for military service with restrictions and has been drafted into the army.
Here is how Yuri’s illness describes his mother, Marine Broyan. “At the moment his situation worsens, he falls into shock and does no rest until he gets some blood [of himself]. Then, as he comes back, he says, “Mama, it’s like another person enters me and incites me to do bad things.” I am his parent and I know his condition. He did not even communicate with his brothers at home; he was an isolated person. The military commander says he is well suited for the army. They had to fill the luck of soldiers, they needed a soldier, so they took my son. “
Yurik’s conscription looked like kidnapping. On August 11, the boy was summoned to the Central Military Medical Commission and, from there, was directly taken to Martakert. After being discharged from the hospital, the mother could not figure out where the boy was for a long time.
Yurik Broyan told his mother on the first days of his service that he could not do military marching as his legs weaken. “During marching the child becomes weak, puts his hand on his heart, and the commanders yell and tell him that he is pretending, intending to be discharged from the army. Several times his condition got so bad that the soldiers grabbed him and run to the medical clinic.
One of the sons of Marine Broyan has a heart disease, the other has died from the same illness at a young age.
The woman tells us that Yurik serves for about 10 days. The commander of the Martakert military unit with a nickname Bab has brutally beaten him, after which the boy appeared in the Stepanakert psychiatric hospital. “A woman from Stepanakert hospital called me and said that my child was in the psychiatric hospital, in bad condition, told me to go and take care of my child, but I could not go. I had no means of reaching there. Then the child was transferred to the psychiatric hospital of Kanaz,” said the soldier’s mother. Here she finally managed to see her son and barely recognized him.
“My husband and I went there,” Marine Broyan tells, crying, “I went inside and saw my son in a terrible state. He could not walk, could not speak, could not move. I saw some traces on his arm: he had “sliced” himself.” Marine Broyan complains about doctors of the Kanaz Psychiatric Hospital. She says that they treat badly the soldiers, shout at them, and ridicule them. One of the doctors told Marine: “Your child’s life depends on the paper and pen at my hand, go wherever you want and
complain; your complaint will not have any value, will not get you anywhere.” The mother requires to allow to examine her son. She does not agree with the conclusion of the Military Medical Commission and disputes it in the Administrative Court of Yerevan. the Helsinki Assembly Vanadzor office has provided legal support to Marine Broyan, who lives in extreme poverty.
Helsinki Assembly office advocate Syuzanna Soghomonyan told us that, with the involvement of relevant doctors, Yurik Broyan’s medical records were examined and found that the military-medical commission had no sufficient grounds for determining the degree of Yurik’s mental “retardation”.
“There are certain studies that have not been done. The basis for the appeal is that if they did not conduct such studies, they could not decide whether or not he was fit for military service,” said the lawyer.
The trial is being delayed. The next session is scheduled for January. Meanwhile, Marine Broyan sends letters to government agencies, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, acting Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan. Marine Broyan has handed the letter addressed to the Minister to the employees of the Ministry of Defense’s checkpoint. They made her to wait for a long time, then, via a service telephone, an employee promised that the minister would deal with the problem. The minister did not. He does not engage in soldier’s issues at all. He does not conduct even citizens receptions. Marine has no other choice but to apply to him through journalists. She wants to tell the minister that her son cannot carry arms, or march in line.
“He will harm himself or someone else. What will you do then? You have taken a child from me today and taken him to the army, you must give me a response,” says Marine to the minister Davit Tonoyan. She has suffered two heart attacks. She does not have a home, lives in a friend’s house in extremely hard conditions with her husband and her son.
Artsrun Hovhannisyan, spokesperson for Defense Ministry, told Forrights.am. “A relevant professional decision has been made. That is, it is not true that his problems are ignored. As for the beating, it is a crime, for which he must turn to appropriate bodies.”
Syuzan Simonyan