NEPAL: MAOISTS TURN UP HEAT ON NGOS, AID AGENCIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000846 SIPDIS STATE FOR SA/INS STATE ALSO PASS USAID LABOR FOR ILAB - VIVITA ROZENBERGS LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY NSC FOR MILLARD E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2014 TAGS: SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOISTS TURN UP HEAT ON NGOS, AID AGENCIES IN SOUTHWEST REF: A. KATHMANDU 229 ¶B. KATHMANDU 833 ¶C. KATHMANDU 465 Classified By: CDA JANET BOGUE. REASON: 1.5 (B,D). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) According to NGO contacts, Maoists in five southwestern districts are increasing extortion demands and escalating pressure on local and foreign NGOs, including one U.S.-based NGO, and bilateral aid agencies to sign agreements with the so-called "Tharuwan People's Autonomous Government," declared by the Maoists on January 27. Although no one has been hurt so far, offices of several NGOs that refused to comply with the Maoists' demands were bombed on April 27 and 29; another was burned down on May 1. The Dutch aid agency SNV is reportedly suspending operations in Nepalgunj because of Maoist threats. Despite Maoist rhetoric lambasting U.S.-funded aid programs, no USAID-sponsored activity has been targeted in the five districts. The new push to require that foreign-funded NGOs and aid agencies clear their development programs through local Maoist "people's governments" may indicate that the insurgents are seeking ways to claim legitimacy and recognition for their various ethnic "autonomous" regions. End summary. -------------- TROUBLE IN THARUWAN BELT -------------- ¶2. (C) According to Robin Needham, Country Director for CARE Nepal (protect),the local Maoist leadership in five districts in southwestern Nepal has intensified pressure on local and foreign NGOs, including CARE, and three European aid agencies to sign agreements with the self-proclaimed Maoist "autonomous government" in the region. In addition, local Maoist commanders have increased their extortion demands on the agencies and organizations, reportedly pressing for 10 percent of project costs as a "tax." In addition to CARE, the organizations targeted are ActionAid, a British NGO; DFID, the British aid agency; GTZ, the German aid agency; and SNV, the Dutch aid agency. (Note: Although CARE is a U.S.-based NGO, the particular project targeted by the Maoists is funded by European donors. End note.) ¶3. (U) According to NGO sources, the demands are made in the name of the so-called "Tharuwan autonomous regional government," which was declared by the Maoists on January 27. (Note: The Maoists declared nine "autonomous" regional governments--all but one associated with a particular ethnic minority--in different parts of the country in late January and early February. End note.) The purported Tharuwan regional government encompasses the five districts of Kanchanpur, Bardiya, Banke (where the Royal Nepal Army's Western Division is headquartered in Nepalgunj),Kailali and Dang, located along Nepal's southwestern border with India, where most of the population of the Tharu ethnic group is concentrated. (Note: The Kamaiyas, former bonded laborers who are among Nepal's most oppressed groups, are largely Tharu. End note.) ¶4. (C) CARE's Needham reported that since early April local Maoists operating in these five districts have made a concerted push to pressure donor agencies and organizations to apply to the "autonomous regional government" for work permits, to register with the "government" and to sign bilateral aid agreements with the "government." As far as he knows, none of the agencies has complied with these demands. In addition, Needham noted, extortion demands have increased markedly to as much as USD 5,700 per agency. In some cases, agencies have been threatened with vague but "serious consequences" for non-compliance. In CARE's case, the Maoist caller phoning in the demand (who identified himself as the "NGO/INGO Coordinator"),asked for the funding to assist the newly founded "government" in "this difficult situation" as it established itself. Referring the request to CARE headquarters would not be satisfactory, the caller indicated. (Note: Many NGOs and some businesses deflect Maoist demands for money by claiming they lack the authority to make such decisions in the field and referring them to corporate headquarters. End note.) Needham said he has instructed all of his staff to listen politely if contacted by the Maoists, to note down carefully all subjects discussed and demands made, but not to commit to sign any agreements, register any projects or pay any "taxes." GTZ has drafted guidelines for its staff to follow when confronted with the demands. Poloff's question as to whether the aid agencies had reported the threats and demands to local authorities was greeted with amusement. -------------- POST-BANDH BOMBINGS -------------- ¶5. (C) According to Needham, the NGOs and aid agencies have complained to contacts with Maoist links about the local commanders' aggressive new style. Following the complaints, the person who had been making the phone calls was replaced with another individual, who has persisted in making the same demands. When foreign NGOs and aid agencies in Nepalgunj, including CARE, defied a local strike, or "bandh," called by the Maoists, they each received threatening phone calls demanding they remain closed during future bandhs or face "consequences." (Note: UN agencies appear to be exempt from such pressure. When a Maoist called the local ILO office to complain that it was open during the recent bandh and was informed that ILO is a UN agency, he reportedly apologized and hung up. End note.) ¶6. (C) Needham said CARE offices in the southwest have not heard from the Maoists since the bandh (on or about April 21),but other NGOs and agencies have. On April 27 three Maoists were killed while setting a bomb at an office of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Kailali (Ref B). On April 29 suspected Maoists set off explosive devices at an office of the Dutch aid agency SNV and the NGO PLAN International in Nepalgunj and an office of CCS, an ILO partner, in Kailali. The explosions took place early in the morning before staff arrived and caused only minimal damage. On May 1 the office of KPUS, a local NGO working with ILO, was burned down in Kailali. A Maoist caller threatened SNV personnel with physical harm unless the agency closed down its operations. As a result, SNV has reportedly decided to suspend its operations in Nepalgunj for now. -------------- THE AMERICAN ANGLE -------------- ¶7. (C) Despite the Maoist penchant for anti-US rhetoric, none of the projects targeted in these districts receives direct U.S. funding. (PLAN receives some funding from USAID but not for its activity in Nepalgunj. As noted in Para 2, the CARE project in Nepalgunj is funded by European donors. LWF receives no USG funding for its project in Kailali.) In fact, Needham commented, CARE, which operates in 35 districts in Nepal and receives funding from a variety of donors, has never been directly challenged on the source of funding for individual projects. Even more interesting, Save the Children -US, which maintains an office in Nepalgunj, has not been targeted by the "autonomous government" and reports no threatening phone calls or pressure to sign agreements. (On the other hand, as noted Ref C, SAVE has had problems in the southeastern district of Siraha.) -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) While NGOs, businesses and private Nepali citizens across the country regularly report receiving extortion demands from the Maoists, the concerted push to persuade NGOs and bilateral aid agencies to sign agreements, apply for "work permits" and register--indeed, to fulfill all the same requirements as with the Government of Nepal (GON)--seems limited, for now at least, to the five districts of the Tharuwan belt. NGO representatives in this area describe a situation in which local Maoists operate with apparent impunity within district headquarters and larger cities and are attempting to replicate, at least in part, the internal structures of a parallel government. The leaders of the "autonomous government" in this area are plainly trying to gain legitimacy and income--and perhaps some credit for the development assistance provided by these agencies--by asserting authority over all activities in the region. The agencies obviously believe it fruitless to report their problems to local GON authorities--even though the Army's Western Division is headquartered in Nepalgunj--and are developing their own policies and operating guidelines in response to the situation. For whatever reason--whether poor intelligence about sources of funding, personal relationships with local staff of individual NGOs, or a calculated decision not to confront the U.S.--the Maoists so far have steered clear of U.S.-funded programs in these five districts. BOGUE