NEPAL POLICE READY FOR TRAINING AND TECHNICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001786

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR DOJ ICITAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KCRM EAID NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL POLICE READY FOR TRAINING AND TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE

REF: 04 KATHMANDU 2343

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Nicholas Dean. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary And Introduction
--------------


1. (C) Maoists have decimated Nepal Police posts in most
parts of the country and forced most police personnel to move
into district headquarters. There has been no government
security presence in most rural areas during the last few
years of the Maoist insurgency. In addition, foreign
assistance programs to the Nepal Police virtually halted
after the King's takeover in February 2005. With the move
back to democracy, the current cease-fire, and a Government
of Nepal (GON) keen on training and reform, the United States
and the international community should become more involved
in assisting the police. Support for the Nepal Police is an
integral part of a strategy supporting the GON to show Nepali
people that the GON is serious about delivering services and
supporting law and order (reftel).


2. (C) Upon assessing the capacity and training needs of the
Nepal Police from June 26-30, Gary Barr and Leon Sakamoto,
members of the Department of Justice's International Criminal
Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP),proposed
a three-point strategy for reform and assistance. The
strategy focuses on police reform and organizational
development, technical skills training, and forensic
laboratory assistance. During their visit, they met with
police, government officials, civil society, and
international missions, all of whom are eager for and
optimistic about the prospect of training and assistance for
the police. The Embassy strongly endorses the ICITAP
proposal and would welcome the opportunity to host a
full-time resident Senior Law Enforcement Advisor. End
Summary and Introduction.

ICITAP Plan For The Future
--------------


3. (C) At the end of their assessment trip, the ICITAP team
presented the Ambassador with a notional plan for a law
enforcement assistance program in Nepal. The plan provides
for a three-prong approach: police reform and organizational
development, technical skills training, and forensic
laboratory assistance. The plan recommended a full-time
Senior Law Enforcement Advisor be assigned to the Nepal
Police in order to provide continuity of approach, and
intermittent police trainers come in as needed.


4. (C) Baman Prasad Neupane, Joint Secretary in the Home
Ministry, told the team and Emboffs that the Home Ministry
would likely support such a plan to provide training and
assistance to the Nepal Police and welcomed their efforts.
The team also presented their findings to the Inspector
General of the Nepal Police, who was optimistic and excited
about the plan.

Nepal Police Ready For Training And Reforms
--------------


5. (C) Om Bikram Thapa, Inspector General of the Nepal
Police, gave Barr and Sakamoto, accompanied by Emboffs, a
list of needs for the Nepal Police. Training, forensics,
investigative techniques, human rights, updating the Police
Act, community policing, traffic management, corruption
control, and pension reform are the top priorities. In
addition to stressing training, police officials suggested
that cyber-crime was an issue they would like to pursue in
the future. Thapa showed great interest in any possible
assistance offered by the ICITAP team to the Nepal Police,
and proffered his personal support for such programs.

Other Countries Ready To Coordinate
--------------


6. (C) Alan Whaites, Senior Governance Adviser for the
British Department for International Development (DFID),told


us that DFID would not be able to resume any type of
assistance to the Nepal Police until the beginning of their
next fiscal year in April 2007. He suggested that DFID could
provide consultancy help with any programs ICITAP started,
and could provide advice based on their past experiences in
Nepal.


7. (C) Arvind Kumar, First Secretary and Chief Security
Officer at the Indian Embassy, stated that the Government of
India (GOI) had provided arms and ammunition to the Nepal
Police and counter-insurgency training in India in the past.
He said that the GOI was waiting for a formal request from
the GON before offering any new training, but that any
training would likely be done exclusively in India. He added
that the GOI would go forward with whatever the GON asked
for, including providing equipment to update investigative
and forensic labs if necessary. Kumar suggested that we
coordinate our programs in the future to avoid overlap.

Civil Society On Need To Work With The Police
--------------

8. (C) Mandira Sharma, Executive Director of Advocacy Forum
Nepal, said that the police had problems with illegal
detention and torture in police detention centers. She was
hopeful for change in the future, and thought that training
for the police was the answer -- including training by civil
society groups such as hers. Yubaraj Sangroula, Director of
the Kathmandu School of Law, also suggested that training was
key, and that the commissioned officers of the force were
responsible individuals, but most maltreatment came from
low-level police who were not well-trained. Shambu Thapa,
head of the Nepal Bar Association, said that the police
lacked knowledge and professionalism and that there were not
enough police, but that training was the key to a
professional police force.


9. (C) Everyone in civil society with whom the ICITAP team
met seemed ready to work with the police by advising, or
providing training, or educational materials to the police.
Most civil society groups identified corruption as a major
obstacle in police reform. Sangroula stated that politics
play a big role in police actions, and that the police needed
to be free from political expectations. Shambu Thapa
separately agreed, stating that corruption was rampant in the
police, and that promotion was based purely on "who you know,
not what you know." Sapana Pradhan Malla, Director of
Development Law Associates and a women's rights activist,
said that the general population, especially women, did not

trust the police to help them. She stated that many times,
women who were trafficked or abused would not go to the
police because of fear that the police might treat them badly
and not investigate their crimes unless they had money to pay
a bribe. All three of them suggested that further training
on these issues could help solve these problems.

Armed Police Force Unsure Of Its Role
--------------


10. (C) During their visit, the ICITAP team also met with the
Armed Police Force (APF),although ICITAP does not plan to
work with the APF, which already has received sufficient
support from other donors. The leaders of the APF stated
that they were unsure of their role given the current
political environment but were making plans to transform from
a force that was primarily paramilitary and charged with
fighting the Maoists to a force that had other goals. Kishor
Lama, Deputy Inspector General of the APF, told us that the
APF might begin to focus more on customs and border control,
intelligence collection, international terrorism, and
smuggling.

Incorporating Maoists?
--------------


11. (C) Police and APF sources privately told us that
immediately after the people's movement in May 2006, the APF
and Nepal police formulated a joint plan for changes,
including possible integration of Maoist cadre, and presented
it to the newly formed GON. The plan recommends that

Maoists, in order to peacefully integrate into the police
forces, would have to enter as recruits, based on their level
of education, just like anyone else entering the police.
Without this, they said, there could be serious problems with
integration.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) The Embassy and the ICITAP team were encouraged to
find that GON, police and civil society representatives were
welcoming of and confident about the success of a police
assistance program in Nepal. The Nepal Police are ready for
help in creating a better, more professional and well-trained
force -- an essential element in Nepal's transition to a
well-ordered democracy. The Embassy believes that the ICITAP
program would have strong immediate impact in Nepal. The
sooner they can get on the ground and working here, the
better.
DEAN