Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KATHMANDU135
2003-01-24 09:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, JAN 18-24

Tags:  PHUM PTER CASC PGOV NP IN 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000135 

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 IN
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, JAN 18-24

REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 0089

(B) KATHMANDU 0087

SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 000135

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 IN
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, JAN 18-24

REFERENCE: (A) KATHMANDU 0089

(B) KATHMANDU 0087

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


1. Peace talks remain elusive with conflicting reports
about backchannel Government-Maoist communications. The
Government of Nepal has said it will not send a formal
invitation to the Maoists until they stop their violence,
while Maoists have warned of severe consequences if talks
are not held and their student leaders not released. The
National Human Rights Commission claimed that the Maoists
are in regular contact and desire to hold a peace dialogue,
but only with an all-party interim government. Maoists are
taking advantage of isolated areas along the Nepali-India
border to smuggle contraband into Nepal, while the local
press has reported that India pledged to set up military
stations along the border to cope with both Nepali and
Indian militants. Victims of the insurgency are planning to
stage a protest against the Government for its failure to
provide assistance. Several human rights groups have
approached the Government, under fire for refusing a Supreme
Court order to release several detainees, to improve the
human rights situation and admit past mistakes.


2. Summary continued. Maoists killed three Armed Police
Force (APF) personnel in the mid-west, one police officer
and one Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldier. The insurgents
continued their assaults on civilians, killing six people,
including an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old child. Seventeen
women were abducted by the Maoists in Salyan District for
"volunteer service," and the Maoists also kidnapped a
teacher, a Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML) activist, a local social activist, a soldier and a
female police officer. Maoists have disrupted postal
service in Pyuthan District. People are abandoning their
jobs and homes in Baglung District because of increased

pressure from the Maoists. Schools in the Doti, Accham and
Bajura Districts are on the verge of closure because
students and teachers have fled to other parts of Nepal and
India to avoid the Maoists. End Summary.

NO PEACE TALKS FORTHCOMING; MIXED MESSAGES ALL AROUND
-------------- --------------


3. Kuber Sharma, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil
Aviation, told reporters on January 17 that the committee
formed to facilitate peace talks between the Government of
Nepal (GON) and the Maoists has failed to bring about any
positive results. Members of the committee, however, claim
that the committee is in a "progressive phase," and that
peace talks are at a "confidence building" stage. Committee
members refused to elaborate on the new developments, and
said a deadline could not be placed on when talks would take
place. Sharma reiterated that the GON would not issue a
formal invitation to the Maoists unless the Maoists stop
their violence.


4. The Maoists, meanwhile, issued a warning to the GON,
conveyed by a former abductee, to hold talks soon or face
severe consequences. The insurgents also warned the GON to
release its student leaders, threatening to send thousands
of armed students to the capital if the GON did not comply.


5. Press reports claim that the Maoists are in regular
contact with members of the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC),who said the Maoists are interested in holding peace
talks, but only with an all-party interim government.
Conflicting reports, however, cite the Maoists as saying
they would talk only with the King. In addition to demands
for an interim government, the Maoists want assurance that
they will not be arrested at peace talks. Nayan Bahadur
Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission,
said the Maoists are to blame for the failed progress in
peace dialogue. Khatri cited their lack of sincerity and
failure to respect human rights as hindrances to the
resolution of the current crisis.

SMUGGLING ACROSS THE NEPAL-INDIA BORDER
--------------


6. Isolated areas along the Nepal-India border are
reportedly becoming hot spots for Maoists, who use the
terrain to smuggle contraband. According to local reports,
gunpowder, explosives, arms and even tobacco and liquor from
India are being smuggled into Nepal. The post at Koilabus,
which is only 34 kilometers from the Maoists' Dang District
training center, is difficult to reach by vehicle and no
security personnel have been posted there.


7. George Fernandes, India's Defence Minister, was quoted
in the local press stating that India would soon set up two
military stations along the Bihar-Nepal border. Fernandes
said the stations were being set up in response to the
increasing activities of "Nepal's Maoist extremists" and
reports of smuggling. Fernandes offered that the
checkpoints would help cope with enemies from the outside as
well as internal insurgencies.

MURDER AND MAYHEM BY MAOISTS
--------------


8. Three Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were killed and
eighteen others were injured by a landmine blast in Surkhet
District on January 23. The police were on routine patrol
when the landmine, reportedly planted by Maoists, exploded
near a bridge. A two-hour clash between the APF and the
Maoists followed. One policeman was killed and several
others injured when Maoists ambushed a patrol group of 35
officers in northwestern Jumla District on January 22. On
January 20 a soldier from the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) was
killed when Maoists detonated a landmine in northeastern
Solukhumbu District. In Rupandihi District, two policemen
were seriously wounded on January 17 when their jeep hit a
landmine.


9. Two children, age 8 and 11, were killed in Jumla
District after playing with a bomb left by Maoists. Maoists
reportedly chopped off a student's hand before releasing him
from captivity. The boy had been abducted from Dang
District while playing football. Insurgents severely beat a
villager in Nuwakot District whom they accused of being a
polygamist, and also killed two civilians in Khotang
District, claiming that they had been spying for security
forces. A Nepali Congress supporter was beaten to death in
Dang District on January 23 by a group of Maoists. The
insurgents shot and seriously wounded a civilian in
Sindhupalchowk District on January 17. The insurgents also
shot and killed a man on January 15 in Rauthat District
while he was taking part in a wedding procession.


10. The insurgency continues to cause hardship in the far
western hills of Bajura District. Residents have been left
without telephone lines after Maoists destroyed
communication towers. According to the District Agriculture
Office, not only has rice output in the district decreased,
but Maoists are demanding a contribution from families as
well, leaving limited supplies for families. Supplies of
rice from outside areas have been unable to make it into the
district because of lack of security and looting by Maoists.

MAOISTS CONTINUE ABDUCTIONS OF CIVILIANS
--------------


11. In Dolakha District, Maoists abducted a soldier
guarding the Khimti Hydro project on January 17. A female
police officer was also abducted by the Maoists from her
residence on January 19, but was released, unharmed, twenty
hours later. Seventeen women in Salyan District were taken
by the Maoists for "volunteer service." Maoists reportedly
took one woman from each household and did not tell the
families where they were being taken. A high school
teacher, affiliated with the Nepal National Teachers'
Organization, was abducted from his home outside of
Sankhuwasabha District on January 21 by a group of Maoists.


12. Maoists, once again, targeted associates of the
Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML),
kidnapping one member in Baglung District on January 21 and
another District Committee Member in Dhankuta District. A
locally prominent, social activist of Nuwakot District was
taken by Maoists after they stormed into a meeting and
grabbed him. His whereabouts are still unknown. Maoists
have released the four Communist Party of Nepal-United
Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) workers abducted a week ago in
Bhojpur District (ref A). According to press reports, the
CPN-UML members were abducted for organizing meetings
without getting permission from the Maoists.


13. Maoists still have not released the five people they
abducted from the Food For Work Programme (FWP) in Mugu
District in the far northwest. Human rights activists have
demanded their release, saying that the kidnappings are a
violation of international human rights law. The five have
been held since December 23.


14. Eighty students abducted from Salyan District last week
have been released. The Maoists had kidnapped the students,
ages 15 and 16, to train them in guerilla warfare.

INSURGENCY CAUSING JOB AND SCHOOL ABANDONMENT
--------------


15. Villagers are fleeing from Baglung District out of fear
for their safety. Maoist threats of violence have forced
almost 100 people to leave their homes and, according to the
District Administration Office (DAO),the numbers are
increasing. Escalating Maoist violence in other districts
such as Dang, Nepalgunj and Jumla has also caused government
and non-government workers, teachers and security personnel
to abandon their jobs as well as their homes. The Maoists
have stepped up their campaign of violence against the
workers for what they see as a lack of assistance. Many
have quit their jobs and are fleeing to India.


16. Government schools in mid-western Nepal are at risk of
being closed down because of dwindling attendance by
students and the fleeing of teachers due to the Maoist
insurgency. Schools in the Doti, Achham, and Bajura
Districts have been abandoned by teachers and students.
Teachers have fled the schools to avoid Maoists who force
the teachers to donate a percentage of their salary and also
for safer working conditions. Maoists have also been
forcing students to participate in weekly Maoist programs.
According to reports, over fifty percent of the students
have also fled to India and other parts of Nepal to avoid
forced recruitment by the Maoists and harassment by security
forces.


17. Postal service is almost non-existent in Pyuthan
District. Maoists are harassing postal carriers and have
destroyed most of the post offices. Now the insurgents have
stopped delivery of mail to security personnel as well as
the local villagers. No one has complained about active
Maoist censorship of personal mail for fear of retaliation
by the Maoists.

CHALLENGE TO IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS
--------------


18. The Government of Nepal is under fire for its refusal
to release several detainees, even after being ordered to do
so by the Supreme Court of Nepal. The National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) has urged the GON to comply with the order
and respect basic human rights, declaring in a letter sent
to Prime Minister Lokendra Chand that it would be
"ridiculous" if the GON does not obey the order and thus
encourage "gross violations of human rights." The four
detainees are being held under the Terrorist and Destructive
Activities Act, on suspicions of being Maoists.


19. Krishna Pahadi, Chairman of the Human Rights and Peace
Society Nepal, wants the GON to admit human rights abuses in
other cases and compensate the families who have suffered
because of the violations. The request follows the
admission by the government that the five youths killed by
the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) Nuwakot on November 27 were
innocent civilians (ref B).


20. The Government announced that a human rights cell has
been established within the Armed Police Force (APF). The
cell is headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police and
consists of senior police officers. A similar cell is also
being formed in the civilian police force.


21. The National Assembly Social Justice Committee, a
division of the Upper House of Parliament, called for an
immediate stop to human rights violations, and has also
questioned the government over the insufficient supply of
passports in districts throughout Nepal. The Committee is
also seeking clarification pertaining to news reports which
allege that people injured as a result of operations carried
out by security forces are being denied medical treatment.

VICTIMS OF MAOIST INSURGENCY PROTEST GOVERNMENT
-------------- --


22. Victims of Maoist atrocities are planning a mass rally
to protest the Government of Nepal's (GON) lack of
assistance. The Maoist-Affected Victim's Association (MAVA)
announced that it would stage protests beginning on January
24 and ending February 12. MAVA is also planning a sit-in
in front of Singha Durbar on February 4, hoping to bring
traffic to a standstill for an hour. MAVA claims that the
government has not honored the assistance program promised
by the Deuba government. MAVA is demanding an increase in
financial assistance, medical care, pensions for the widows
of murdered schoolteachers, and scholarships for the
children of victims. Under Prime Minister Chand, MAVA
claims that financial allowances for the displaced have been
terminated, medical treatment is limited to only three
months, and the financial compensation is inadequate.

MALINOWSKI