Conscientious objector Gagik Mirzoyan
Arman Melikian, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nagorno-Karabakh). You can add your own notes in a separate box after the standard text, if you wish. You must include a name, address, and email address; a copy will be sent to you with a cc to the WRI office (so we have a record of how many email letters have been sent out for this particular case).
Dear Mr Arman Melikian, Minister for Foreign Affairs
I am very concerned about the treatment of conscientious objector Gagik Mirzoyan by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Gagik Mirzoyan has been called up for military service on 6 December 2004, but refuses to serve on religious grounds. He has been beaten by a superior officer on 15 December, and by an Armenian Apostolic priest on 25 December 2004, and it is presently not know to his family where he is being held.
The right to conscientious objection is recognised as a human right, derived from Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, in practice this right does not seem to be recognised in Nagorno-Karabakh. The treatment of conscientious objector Gagik Mirzoyan is not only a violation of his human right to conscientious objection, but also a violation of his physical integrity. It also has to be pointed out that his parents have a right to be informed about his whereabouts.
I therefore urge you to grant Gagik Mirzoyan his right to conscientious objection, to stop all legal proceedings against him, and to immediately release him from military service and/or prison. I also urge you to inform his family about his whereabouts. I urge you to respect human rights.
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