MAOISTS INTENSIFY ABDUCTION OF STUDENTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000458

SIPDIS

REFTEL: 03 KATHMANDU 2129

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER SCUL NP
SUBJECT: MAOISTS INTENSIFY ABDUCTION OF STUDENTS


1. Summary. Nepal's Maoist insurgents have intensified
abductions of students. Nearly 700 students were abducted
in January and February alone while over 900 reportedly were
abducted since the ceasefire's collapse in August 2003.
According to one Maoist-affiliated organization, the
insurgents intend to raise an army of child militants by mid-
May 2004. One prominent Nepali human rights activist,
however, believes that the Maoists are trying to
indoctrinate Nepal's youth and perhaps recruit children as
porters, messengers, and other manual laborers. Most of the
abducted students have been released after only a few days
of captivity, indicating that the abductions may be an
effort to "re-educate" school children. Ironically, the
policy of the Royal Nepal Army of not attacking schools may
have encouraged the Maoists to use them for recruitment.
Nepal's human rights organizations have denounced these
activities. End Summary.

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Abduction of Students Intensifies
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2. Since the beginning of 2004, the Maoists have
increasingly resorted to kidnapping students in large
numbers from the schools of Nepal's mid-western and far-
western regions. Press reports suggest that nearly 700
students were abducted in January and February alone. The
Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC),a prominent human
rights organization, calculates that Maoists have abducted
approximately 900 students over the past six months as
compared to only 137 students abducted during the 7-month
long ceasefire in 2003 (January-August 27).


3. According to media and NGO accounts, Accham District in
far-western Nepal was particularly hard-hit by the Maoists:
13 Dalit, or low-caste, girls were abducted and enlisted
into the Maoist armed force the week of January 18; 150
students were abducted on January 8; and another 153
students were abducted on February 1, but all were later
released after attending Maoist "cultural programs." Sixty-
two schools in Achham District reportedly have closed
indefinitely as a result of the Maoist abductions. Rolpa
District in the mid-west has also suffered: Maoists abducted
300 students on February 16 and another 187 on February 20,
although all were later set free. On February 25, the
Maoists kidnapped 65 students and a teacher from a school in
Rukum District of mid-western Nepal, but were released on
March 4. According to INSEC, as of February 29, 71 students
remained missing.

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Why do Maoists Target Schools and Students?
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4. According to the Maoists' Bheri-Karnali Regional
Coordination Committee, the insurgents are recruiting
children to achieve their target of 50,000 child militants
by may 2004. Press reports indicate that the Maoist student
wing, ANNISU-R, is flooding schools with the slogan of "one
educational institution, one excellent militia".
Additionally, a March 9 press report asserted that Maoists
in four western districts had established training camps in
public schools and that insurgents have "trained" 1,500
students. However, INSEC Chairman Subodh Pyakurel believes
the Maoists seek only to indoctrinate the students and
perhaps recruit them as porters, messengers and other manual
labor or as "human shields" to protect themselves from
attack by security forces. Pyakurel suggested that only a
few of the abductees likely end up fighting for the Maoists.
He opined that recruiting child militants probably is not
part of the Maoists' mainstream agenda.


5. Pyakurel suggested that, ever since the October 2003 Doti
incident, the Maoists increasingly have used schools as
"safe havens". [Note. On October 13, 2003, security forces
open fired on a school in which Maoists were conducting a
"cultural program", resulting in the death of four students
(reftel). End Note.] Public condemnation of the incident
has caused security forces to refrain from attacking or
operating near schools. Pyakurel believed that the
unintended effect has been increased Maoist activity in
schools. Schools have more space for Maoists to organize
political and cultural programs, he averred, and students
are more easily indoctrinated into Maoist philosophy and
potentially recruited into service. According to INSEC, the
students typically are abducted, compelled to attend Maoist
political and cultural programs, and then released. The
abductees usually are held in Maoist-controlled villages or
camps, Pyakurel said.

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Human Rights Organizations Blast Maoist Atrocities
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6. Many of Nepal's human rights organizations as well as the
U.N. have severely criticized the Maoists for abducting
students. Pyakurel indicated that INSEC has made it "very
clear" to the Maoists that the student abductions should
stop. Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) has denounced such activities and has requested the
Maoist leadership to prohibit its cadres from abducting
children and damaging children's right to education and
security. A Nepali NGO, Children Workers In Nepal (CWIN),
also issued a press release in February urging the
insurgents not to involve children under 18 years of age in
perilous activities and to recognize schools as "zones of
peace."
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Comment
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7. The claim by some Maoists that they intend to recruit
50,000 child militants by May 2004 is wildly unrealistic.
Most able-bodied young adults have fled Maoist areas in
order to avoid recruitment, leaving only children and the
elderly behind. Although many Nepali pre-teens are too
small to carry and use weapons, the insurgents apparently
are targeting young people for indoctrination and future
induction as armed cadre. The reluctance by Nepal's
security forces to patrol near public schools (as a result
of the October incident in Doti District) provides the
Maoist leadership with additional leeway to accomplish its
re-education goals. End Comment.