TALES FROM TRIBHUVAN HOSPITAL: MAOIST VICTIMS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000446

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL/BA

LONDON FOR POL - RIEGEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM NP
SUBJECT: TALES FROM TRIBHUVAN HOSPITAL: MAOIST VICTIMS
TELL THEIR STORIES

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CIVILIAN SUFFERING
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1. (U) In addition to the 650 policemen and 90 Royal
Nepal Army soldiers they have killed, Maoists have
beaten, stabbed, shot or burned to death nearly 400
civilians since the insurgency began in 1996--more than
50 of those victims in just the three months since the
insurgents unilaterally broke off the ceasefire November

23. Most of the Maoists' civilian targets are local
government officials, teachers, or supporters of the
governing Nepali Congress Party. The number of
civilians injured, maimed, or assaulted by the
insurgents is unknown, but each day the government-owned
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu
admits and treats victims of such attacks. On Feb. 26
Tribhuvan staff reported treating 25 patients (including
7 Armed Police victims of a landmine) for injuries
sustained from Maoist attacks. Poloff visited and
interviewed some of the victims; highlights of their
stories follow below.

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KHAGENDRA RAJ REGMI
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2. (SBU) On the night of Feb. 9 three armed Maoists
knocked on the door of Khagendra Raj Regmi, District
Committee Chairman of the Nepali Congress Party and
brother of Prime Minister Deuba's Chief Secretary, in
Syangja District in western Nepal. Regmi said when he
came out, he observed an additional 30 or so Maoists had
surrounded his house. The Maoists asked Regmi to come
with them to an undisclosed location, but he refused.
The assailants then shot him three times (twice in the
chest; one bullet grazed his head and hit his hand) and
fled. Regmi's entire family has left their home in the
district and relocated to Kathmandu.

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PADAM PRASAD SILWAL
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3. (SBU) On the morning of Feb. 18, a group of five
Maoists, armed with pistols, guns, and khukuri knives,
approached Padam Prasad Silwal, a Nepali Congress
supporter and small shopowner, as he sat on the porch of
his home in Chitwan District in south-central Nepal.
According to Silwal, the armed men suddenly began to
stab him in the head, back and hands, completely
chopping off one of his fingers. A son who tried to
shield his father was shot and wounded. Silwal said he
had frequently been approached by Maoists in the past
for "donations," especially fuel from his small gas
pump, and had always complied with their demands. He
has no idea why he was targeted and did not recognize
any of his attackers. He, his wife, and three sons (one
of whom is recovering in another hospital) have fled
their village, leaving all their belongings behind them,
and are afraid to return. They have no way to support
themselves while in Kathmandu. One son bitterly
described the family as "refugees."

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CHATTRA RAJ BHANDARI
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4. (SBU) Chattra Raj Bhandari said he was attacked by
a band of about 35 Maoists at his home the night of
December 23. The group forced him out of his house,
tied his hands behind his back, and beat him on the
head, hands, and legs with an iron rod. A farmer from
Phrkot Village in Tanahu District, Bhandari said he
suspects he was targeted because he supports (but is not
an organizer for) the Nepali Congress Party.

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KURMI DAGAURA CHAUDHARI
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5. (SBU) About midnight on January 25, Kurmi Dagaura
Chaudhari of Banskati, Kailali, was forced out of his
house, along with his cousin, by a group of 12
insurgents. Both men were severely beaten, dragged
more than a kilometer from their home, dumped into a
ditch and left for dead. Chaudhari regained
consciousness by early morning, however, climbed out of
the ditch, and made it back home (despite his broken
arms and legs). His cousin did not survive the attack.
Chaudhari, the village postman, said he is not
affiliated with any political party but used to urge
young people in his neighborhood, which is heavily
affected by the insurgency, not to join the Maoists.
His village is about 70 km from the nearest sizable
presence of Government security forces . He said he did
not recognize any of his attackers.

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COMMENT
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6. (SBU) Since the beginning of the insurgency, the
Maoists have attacked civilians they consider class
enemies, but as the state of emergency and subsequent
Army mobilization limit the range of military targets
available, the volume of attacks against civilians seems
to be sharply increasing. In the early days of the
conflict, the Maoists sought to popularize a romantic
notion of themselves as champions of the common man or
woman against Government oppression. But none of the
victims interviewed at Tribhuvan was powerful,
prosperous, or (with the possible exception of Regmi's
family connections) even influential. While Maoist
brutality may succeed in spreading fear, it can only
undermine rural popular support for the insurgency.

Malinowski