Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KATHMANDU145
2003-01-27 11:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:
NEPAL: ARMY TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN HUMAN RIGHTS
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000145
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM MCAP PTER PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: ARMY TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN HUMAN RIGHTS
CASE; HOME MINISTRY DEFIES COURT ORDER TO RELEASE DETAINEES
REF: KATHMANDU 0087
---------------------------------------------
RNA TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN SHOOTING INCIDENT
--------------------------------------------- -
UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000145
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM MCAP PTER PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: ARMY TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN HUMAN RIGHTS
CASE; HOME MINISTRY DEFIES COURT ORDER TO RELEASE DETAINEES
REF: KATHMANDU 0087
--------------
RNA TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN SHOOTING INCIDENT
-------------- -
1. (U) On January 25 Defense Secretary Madan Prasad Aryal
announced in a speech at the Reporters Club that the Royal
Nepal Army (RNA) will court-martial soldiers involved in the
November 27 killings of five young men and boys in Nuwakot
District (Reftel). (Note: The RNA maintains the five were
mistaken for Maoists as they were returning late from a
funeral in a rural area and failed to identify themselves to
sentries. End note.) On January 27 a member of the RNA
human rights cell, which had investigated the incident and
found the five were innocent of Maoist connections, confirmed
that a captain and one soldier will stand trial in the
incident. In addition, the Home Ministry has decided to
provide approximately USD 1300 each to the families of a
14-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man killed in the crossfire
between the RNA and Maoists in Myagdi District in December. A
final determination of whether to investigate further
allegations of custodial rape committed by officers in
Nepalganj, Banke District (Reftel) is still before the Chief
of Army Staff.
-------------- --------------
HOME MINISTRY DEFIES SUPREME COURT ORDERS ON DETAINEES
-------------- --------------
2. (U) The Home Ministry has so far failed to respond to
Supreme Court orders that it release 12 detainees, arrested
as suspected Maoists and reportedly being held in Kathmandu
jails, because of insufficient evidence. On January 5 the
Supreme Court ordered the release of Dambar Karki, Haridwar
Kunwar, Shantiram Bhattarai, Narayan Adhikari, and
16-year-old Chaturman Gurung, all of whom were arrested under
the Terrorist and Destructive Activities Act (TADA). (Note:
The TADA allows for suspects to be held without charge for 60
days and in preventive detention for up to 90 days. In
practice, many detainees have been held without charge for
much longer periods. End note.) The Government of Nepal
(GON) maintains the five are not in custody, a point disputed
by family and lawyers, who claim to have seen them in jail.
On January 23 the Supreme Court ordered the Home Ministry,
police headquarters, and RNA to show cause why another seven
detainees, also believed to be held in Kathmandu jails, have
not been released. No reply has been received to this order.
3. (U) The local press reported that on January 24
plainclothes security personnel immediately re-arrested
another detainee, Janak Prasad Adhikari, following his
release from the district jail in Nuwakot by order of the
Supreme Court. The Chief District Officer (CDO) in Nuwakot
told us January 27 that Adhikari had not been re-arrested by
district authorities; if others outside the district had
arrested Adhikari, the CDO knew nothing about it, he asserted.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
4. (SBU) The RNA has been stung recently by charges that it
has failed to hold its soldiers accountable for alleged human
rights abuses (Reftel). Most accounts of the Nuwakot
incident, however, depict it as a tragic mistake that
occurred as the unidentified group of young men and boys
advanced on the RNA perimeter at night. This incident marks
the first occasion RNA soldiers have been ordered to stand
court-martial since the Army's deployment against the
insurgents more than one year ago. Since the declaration of
the state of emergency in November 2001, the GON has arrested
an unknown number of suspects under special anti-terrorism
legislation. Few of these suspects have been formally
charged; even fewer have been tried. The legal, judicial and
penal systems are clearly overwhelmed. Ignoring Supreme
Court orders to produce detainees, as the Home Ministry seems
to have elected to do, will do little to ameliorate the
situation.
MALINOWSKI
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM MCAP PTER PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: ARMY TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN HUMAN RIGHTS
CASE; HOME MINISTRY DEFIES COURT ORDER TO RELEASE DETAINEES
REF: KATHMANDU 0087
--------------
RNA TO COURT-MARTIAL TWO IN SHOOTING INCIDENT
-------------- -
1. (U) On January 25 Defense Secretary Madan Prasad Aryal
announced in a speech at the Reporters Club that the Royal
Nepal Army (RNA) will court-martial soldiers involved in the
November 27 killings of five young men and boys in Nuwakot
District (Reftel). (Note: The RNA maintains the five were
mistaken for Maoists as they were returning late from a
funeral in a rural area and failed to identify themselves to
sentries. End note.) On January 27 a member of the RNA
human rights cell, which had investigated the incident and
found the five were innocent of Maoist connections, confirmed
that a captain and one soldier will stand trial in the
incident. In addition, the Home Ministry has decided to
provide approximately USD 1300 each to the families of a
14-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man killed in the crossfire
between the RNA and Maoists in Myagdi District in December. A
final determination of whether to investigate further
allegations of custodial rape committed by officers in
Nepalganj, Banke District (Reftel) is still before the Chief
of Army Staff.
-------------- --------------
HOME MINISTRY DEFIES SUPREME COURT ORDERS ON DETAINEES
-------------- --------------
2. (U) The Home Ministry has so far failed to respond to
Supreme Court orders that it release 12 detainees, arrested
as suspected Maoists and reportedly being held in Kathmandu
jails, because of insufficient evidence. On January 5 the
Supreme Court ordered the release of Dambar Karki, Haridwar
Kunwar, Shantiram Bhattarai, Narayan Adhikari, and
16-year-old Chaturman Gurung, all of whom were arrested under
the Terrorist and Destructive Activities Act (TADA). (Note:
The TADA allows for suspects to be held without charge for 60
days and in preventive detention for up to 90 days. In
practice, many detainees have been held without charge for
much longer periods. End note.) The Government of Nepal
(GON) maintains the five are not in custody, a point disputed
by family and lawyers, who claim to have seen them in jail.
On January 23 the Supreme Court ordered the Home Ministry,
police headquarters, and RNA to show cause why another seven
detainees, also believed to be held in Kathmandu jails, have
not been released. No reply has been received to this order.
3. (U) The local press reported that on January 24
plainclothes security personnel immediately re-arrested
another detainee, Janak Prasad Adhikari, following his
release from the district jail in Nuwakot by order of the
Supreme Court. The Chief District Officer (CDO) in Nuwakot
told us January 27 that Adhikari had not been re-arrested by
district authorities; if others outside the district had
arrested Adhikari, the CDO knew nothing about it, he asserted.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
4. (SBU) The RNA has been stung recently by charges that it
has failed to hold its soldiers accountable for alleged human
rights abuses (Reftel). Most accounts of the Nuwakot
incident, however, depict it as a tragic mistake that
occurred as the unidentified group of young men and boys
advanced on the RNA perimeter at night. This incident marks
the first occasion RNA soldiers have been ordered to stand
court-martial since the Army's deployment against the
insurgents more than one year ago. Since the declaration of
the state of emergency in November 2001, the GON has arrested
an unknown number of suspects under special anti-terrorism
legislation. Few of these suspects have been formally
charged; even fewer have been tried. The legal, judicial and
penal systems are clearly overwhelmed. Ignoring Supreme
Court orders to produce detainees, as the Home Ministry seems
to have elected to do, will do little to ameliorate the
situation.
MALINOWSKI