Opposition ANC member of the dissolved fact-finding group Andranik Kocharyan and Heritage party member Seda Safaryan have published a report, which concerns the events of March 1 of 2008 and the fact of the army’s involvement in the post-election developments.
In the beginning of the report they write that the report of the NA ad hoc looking into the events of March 1 has totally ignored the fact that the army forces were involved in those actions, whether this involvement was legal and what role they played in those actions. Indeed there are many photos, documents and facts proving this involvement. Even more, sometimes the state officials have proven this fact in their speeches when answering to the questions Raised by the fact-collecting group looking into the March 1. Thus, the report mentions that the fact that the ad hoc knew about this fact but did not consider and discuss the fact of the involvement of army and state forces in those events shows that this was an attempt to hide the real role and participation of those bodies in the events of March 1.
The report writes that according to the Constitution, the armed forces are to provide the security and protection, territorial integrity and security of the borders. In relation to political issues the armed forces should be unbiased and should be under the civic control but not to interfere. In the sector of defense the activities of state institutions are coordinated by the general commander of the armed forces, i.e. the president of the republic. The Article 55/13 of the Constitution establishes that the RA president has the right to make a decision to use the armed forces in upon three conditions such as armed attack at the republic, armed attack, and direct danger of armed attack and war. It means that upon all the other conditions, including the domestic conditions, the decision to use the armed forces is illegal. Even more, A.Kocharyan and S.Safaryan write in their report that they have a lot of facts and photos to prove that before Robert Kocharyan would announce a state of emergency, the RA armed forces and governmental divisions had been prepared and involved in post-election political developments, as well as the events of March 1. On February 23, 2008, when putting flowers on the monument of lost soldiers in the Victory park the RA defense minister Mikayel Harutyunyan said the following: “The army is not involved in politics and is fulfilling its orders and doing its duty.” However, the fact-finding group has found out that on the same day Mikayel Harutyunyan signed the confidential order numbered 0038, according to which all the army structure were brought to operational readiness on February 23, at 6p.m. Separate army officers’ groups were established in the central headquarter of the Ministry of Defense, which were armed with government-issue weapons.
“For the purpose of assisting to the work of the head of the armed forces of Yerevan, deputy minister of defense, general-lieutenant Y. Khachaturov additional staff was convened. His deputies were appointed the military commissioner of Armenia, the deputy chief of the army central headquarter, the deputy chief of HR, the head of the armed forces division, the head of the armaments department. The office of the head of the coordinator of the armed forces of Yerevan was in the central headquarter of the army,” writes the report of the former fact-collecting group. Before the group was dissolved the fact-collecting group asked questions to M.Harutyunyan. The latter refused the existence of the Order 0038 and assured that before adopting the order on state of emergency the armed forces had not taken any actions. In answer to the question whether the army may be used for inner purposes he said, “Of course it can.” When he was told that the army could not be used for inner purposes he said that the president had signed an order on state of emergency and he was led by that order. It means that for this person Robert Kocharyan’s order was higher and more important than the Constitution.
In other words, the members of the fact-finding group write in their report that they have videos and photos witnessing that on March 1, at 16:09 the defense ministry armed forces and military vehicles were in the Republic Square. At 16:11 the armed forces soldiers with army uniforms were in the vicinity of the market on Tigran Mets street. At 16:27 the armed forces on Meilk-Adamyan street had weapons in their hands. The car of general-lieutenant Khachaturov was there too. At 18:14 new forces and vehicles were brought to the Republic Square. The members of the fact-finding group wander how the government may refuse the fact that the army was involved in those actions before the order on state emergency when they have photos witnessing that the army forces were deployed in several locations in Yerevan before that too.