Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02KATHMANDU2443
2002-12-20 09:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, DEC 14-DEC 20

Tags:  PHUM PTER CASC PGOV NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002443 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PTER CASC PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, DEC 14-DEC 20

SUMMARY
-------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002443

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST
FINANCING
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PTER CASC PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, DEC 14-DEC 20

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

1. On December 18 the European Union issued a statement
calling for the Government of Nepal (GON) and Maoist
insurgents to move ahead toward negotiations. A December 19
report by Amnesty International found human rights abuses in
Nepal at an unprecedented high. UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan's report to the UN Security Council, to be released in
full on December 23, implicates the Maoists in their
recruitment of children as combatants. A committee of NGO
activists claimed progress in bringing the GON and Maoists
to the negotiating table. However, schools remained closed
for the second week of an indefinite Maoist educational
strike. Maoist violence continued with the murder of two
innocent civilians, the killings of eleven policemen, and
the abduction of four children. Maoists also destroyed 13
District Forest Offices.

EU CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE
--------------


2. On December 18 the European Union (EU) issued a
statement strongly condemning the ongoing insurgency and
calling on the Maoists to stop its campaign of killings,
destruction and harassment, citing concerns over violations
of human rights and international law. The EU statement
called for an immediate ceasefire and asked the government
and the Maoists to enter into negotiations. The statement
also expressed support for the work of The National Human
Rights Commission, emphasizing the need to implement the
recommendations in the commission's future report, and
decried evidence of human rights violations committed by the
security forces.

UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN NEPAL
-------------- --------------


3. In a December 19 report entitled "Nepal-A Deepening
Human Rights Crisis: Time For International Action," Amnesty
International(AI) declared that human rights abuses have
reached an unprecedented high. AI called on the
international community to address the deepening human

rights crisis in Nepal and provide assistance to the
government, to include the establishment of an office of the
High Commissioner For Human Rights (OICHR). The AI report
cites evidence of abuses committed by both the Maoists and
the security forces.

MAOIST USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS
--------------


4. A preview released on December 16 of a report submitted
by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the UN Security
Council implicates the Maoists in the recruitment of
children for use as combatants. Annan's report, which will
be released in full on December 23, includes Nepal in a list
of countries violating internationally accepted standards,
which prohibit the recruitment of children under the age of
fifteen.

SCHOOL STRIKE CONTINUES
--------------


5. The student wing of the underground Maoist party, All
Nepal National Independent Students' Union (Revolutionary),
ANNISU-R, has warned that it would resort to a nationwide
shutdown of academic institutions if the government
continued with its "irresponsible attitude." All the
schools and colleges in the Kathmandu valley remain closed
indefinitely following the strike, or "bandh," called by the
pro-Maoist student body on December 9, 2002. Maoist threats
to kidnap students from school, as well as physical attacks
on teachers in some schools, are inhibiting attendance at
schools in various parts of the country. Armed insurgents
recently entered several schools in western Kailali district
and assaulted teachers in their classrooms. ANNISU-R warned
that it would take "bolder steps and actions" if its
demands, including that the government lift its terrorist
designation of the group, were not met immediately. Home
Minister Dharma Bahadur Thapa, however, has reaffirmed that
the terrorist label will stay.


6. Padma Ratna Tuladhar, an NGO activist with links to the
Maoists, claimed his recent discussions with the Maoist-
affiliated student union included "positive steps towards a
solution of the problem." Tuladhar is a member of a three-
man committee that hopes to facilitate talks between the
government and the pro-Maoist student union. Tuladhar
predicted the committee "will come up with something
concrete" after December 25.


UNICEF URGES END TO EDUCATION STALEMATE
--------------


7. Suomi Sakai, UNICEF Representative to Nepal, on December
16, expressed concern over the education crisis in Nepal and
called on all parties to stop using education for political
reasons. Sakai said that the educational strike only
disadvantages Nepali children, declaring, "School education
is a basic right and must be declared a zone of peace."


8. A number of children's rights organizations have voiced
their concern over the effects that the Maoist insurgency,
particularly the closure of schools, has on children. The
National Human Rights Commission called on the government to
create an environment that safeguards the right to education
and said the ANNFSU-R should act responsibly by not
infringing on the right to education. The Commission said
it is ready to play any necessary role to end the disruption
of education in Nepal.

MAOISTS ATTACK POLICE AND CIVILIANS
--------------


9. In separate incidents, Maoists shot and killed eleven
policemen. On December 19 six policemen were killed and
seven were injured in a Maoist attack on the Koilabas Border
Police Post in southern Dang, near the border of Nepal and
India. According to the local superintendent of police,
over four hundred rebels attacked the post. The insurgents
also made off with rifles and guns taken from the police
post.


10. On December 16, Maoists shot and killed a policeman at
Ramthan in Kapilvastu district. The rebels fled into a
nearby jungle after the shooting and security forces
launched a manhunt for the suspects. In another incident, a
group of Maoist rebels hacked a policeman to death on
December 18, in southwestern Banke District. Two other
policemen were also killed on December 18 at Surkhet Airport
in the mid-western part of the country and Taplejung in the
east. Both were shot and killed by Maoists while on duty.
The head constable of the Kailali district was shot and
killed December 18th in his home by Maoist rebels.


11. According to security forces, Maoist terrorists
abducted four children from the western district of Doti and
killed two brothers from Siddhar VDC in western district of
Arghakhanchi. Tarapati Pokhrel and his brother, Tej Prasad
Pokhrel, had been held captive since their abduction
November 16th. Maoists called the killings a "public
action" and claimed the brothers supported the security
forces.

MAOIST ACTIVITY FORCES EXODUS OF THOUSANDS
--------------


12. According to local press reports "thousands" of people
have fled their homes in fear of forced recruitment by the
Maoists. The exodus occurred after rumors circulated that
the rebels were about to attack one of the district
headquarters in the western Karnali zone. Maoists have
reportedly threatened to forcibly recruit the villagers or
use them as human shields. Thousands of villagers from the
mid-western town of Nepalgunj have also left, heading to
India to escape the rebels, violence and unemployment.
Officials at the border police post at Nepalganj recorded
more than 8,000 people passing through during the week of
December 4-11, the highest weekly figure ever recorded.
Over 60,000 Nepalis have left their districts in the mid and
far western regions of Nepal, leaving some villages entirely
deserted.

MAOISTS DESTROY 13 DISTRICT FOREST OFFICES
--------------


13. Maoist rebels destroyed 13 district forest offices
(DFO). According to Kamal Bhakta Shrestha, regional
director of the Regional Forest Office (RFO),the DFOs in
Illam, Okhaldhunga, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Solukhumbu,
Khotang, Udayapur, Jhapa, Terhathum, Morang, Sunsari, Siraha
and Taplejung have all been destroyed by the Maoists. Three
additional offices, in Mahle, Tellok and Sinam of Taplejung
district have also fallen into the Maoist control. A total
of 32 range posts in the eastern development region have
been destroyed, causing 130,000 dollars in damages.


14. Maoists have also caused 40,000 dollars in damages at
the Modikhkola Hydropower Centre in Parbat District.
Maoists have targeted the center twice before, including
setting off a bomb, which destroyed windows, computers and
furniture.

COMMITMENTS, DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH WANING
-------------- --------------


15. Escalating violence and political instability in Nepal
are affecting financial and economic commitments to help
Nepal. Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Nepal has
been declining in the past few months. While the US remains
the largest bilateral donor, other donors have cited concern
over the intensifying political turmoil and the weak
implementation of development programs. According to the
District Development Committee, Kanchanpur, out of 41
planned development projects, only 12 have been completed.
The GON has blamed its inability to complete the projects
within the specified time on Maoist activity at the proposed
development sites.


16. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also pointed out
that the number of projects funded by their agency has been
cut by 50 percent because of the uncertainty of the
political situation and the escalation of the insurgency.
Destruction of facilities and infrastructure have adversely
affected the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
particularly in the key areas of tourism and trade, which
declined 0.6 percent in the fiscal year 2001-2002.

MALINOWSKI