NEPAL: MAOIST ACTIVITIES CONTINUE DESPITE NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002035

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SA/INS
STATE PLEASE ALSO PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PHUM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST ACTIVITIES CONTINUE DESPITE NEW
GOVERNMENT, PEACE FEELERS

REF: A. (A) KATHMANDU 2025

B. (B) KATHMANDU 1970

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) This message updates Maoist activities since the
October 11 appointment of Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur
Chand. Efforts by Chand's Cabinet to initiate dialogue with
the insurgents have so far succeeded in lessening neither the
Maoists' violent activities nor their anti-government
rhetoric. A Maoist-affiliated trade union has declared a
general strike in the Kathmandu Valley for October 28. The
National Human Rights Commission issued statements condemning
violations by both the Maoists and the security forces. End
summary.

--------------
PEACE FEELERS
--------------


2. (SBU) The newly installed interim government of Prime
Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is letting it be known, both
publicly and privately, that it is attempting to find ways to
restart dialogue with the Maoists, whose violent insurgency
has cost the lives of more than 5,500 Nepalis. The Maoists'
response to these overtures so far, at least publicly, has
been cool, resulting in neither a reduction in their violent
activities nor any tempering of their heated anti-government
rhetoric. Many observers expect the insurgents to string the
new government along for as long as possible, neither
accepting nor rejecting negotiations, while continuing to
seek advantage from deep divisions between mainstream
political parties and the caretaker Cabinet appointed by the
King.

--------------
TRADE UNION DECLARES BANDH
--------------


3. (U) In addition to the previously announced November
11-13 general strike, or "bandh," a press release from the
Maoist-affiliated trade union, received by the media October
23, threatened a Kathmandu Valley bandh for October 28 unless
a list of 24 demands, presented to the Labor Ministry and
selected businessmen, were met. The demands include a 100
percent increase in the minimum wage, free accommodations and
medical care for workers, and free education for workers'
children.

--------------
CIVILIAN TOLL
--------------


4. (U) The insurgents have killed more than 250 civilians
since the beginning of the year, including 21 during the
month of October. Their victims range from teachers to local
political workers to hapless passersby. On October 12 a bomb
set by suspected Maoists at a statue of late King Mahendra in
downtown Kathmandu killed one bystander and injured several
others. On October 17 a gang of armed Maoists abducted Mohan
Bahadur Khatri, a retired Army major, from a hotel he owned
in eastern Nepal, then shot and stabbed him to death. Khatri
was respected as a social worker who supported educational,
medical clinics, and drinking water projects in the area of
rural Sindhupalchowk where he had built his resort. On
October 19 a bomb in a busy street in the Kathmandu Valley
town of Banepa killed a female vegetable vendor whose sales
supported two young children. A bomb set in an auto parts
store in downtown Kathmandu the evening of October 23 injured
eight, many of them waiting outside at a nearby bus stop. On
October 21 armed villagers in eastern Dolakha District
secured the release of five men who had been abducted by the
Maoists several days earlier. Local press reports on October
19 noted a skyrocketing dropout rate among school-aged youth
in Rukum District. The report attributed the phenomenon to
increased out-migration from the district by youths
attempting to avoid Maoist conscription.
--------------
TOLL ON INFRASTRUCTURE
--------------

5. (U) According to a recently completed USAID study,
Maoist attacks on hydropower facilities over the past seven
months have left nearly 132,000 Nepalis without electricity.
Maoist attacks on telecommunications infrastructure have left
19 of Nepal's 75 districts with no telephone service. The
insurgents have particularly focused their destructive
activities on the mid-western Maoist heartland, cutting off
200 Village Development Committees (VDCs) from telephone in
the past year alone.

--------------
OPERATIONS AGAINST EXTORTION
--------------


6. (U) According to local press reports, one civilian was
killed in crossfire when the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) engaged a
large band of Maoists attempting to conscript recruits from a
village in Syangja District in central Nepal October 18-20.
Acting on reports of Maoist extortion in Bardiya District in
southwestern Nepal, the RNA mounted an operation resulting in
the deaths of 15 reported Maoists in the area. (Note: The
largest food distributor in Nepal, who owns a warehouse in
the area, confirmed to us that Maoist extortion and looting
had worsened so much that he was considering closing his
operations there. End note.) Reacting to RNA proscriptions
against local merchants supplying food to suspected Maoists
in the Maoist heartland, the insurgents have slapped a
counter-ban on the import of food to the headquarters of
Rukum District. As a result, severe food shortages among the
general population are being reported in Rukum and
neighboring areas. Many residents--including, according to
some reports, civil servants in the area--are leaving the
vicinity and moving south, where food is more readily
available.

--------------
RIGHTS COMMISSION FAULTS BOTH SIDES
--------------


7. (U) On October 22 the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) issued a press release citing the security forces for
staged encounters; excessive force, including torture;
illegal detention; and insensitivity to "the basic needs of
education, food and health rights of the people in (the
security forces') bid to curb the facilities of the Maoists."
The release was based on investigations conducted in 35
districts. Presenting a summary of its findings to PM Chand,
the NHRC urged him to halt the violations and "declare a
cease fire and lead the process towards peace."


8. (U) The NHRC followed up its presentation to Chand with
an October 23 letter to Maoist leader Prachanda noting
insurgents' violations of the Geneva Convention. The
Commission specifically asked him to stop the indiscriminate
killing, torture and abduction of civilians and unarmed
security personnel; destruction of infrastructure and
development projects; and terrorizing of teachers and
students. The letter also urged an end to recruitment of
children into insurgent ranks, as well as the blockade of
humanitarian supplies and services.
MALINOWSKI