UN TEAM EXPECTED IN KATHMANDU BY SEPTEMBER 1

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002253

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2016
TAGS: PGOV PTER NP
SUBJECT: UN TEAM EXPECTED IN KATHMANDU BY SEPTEMBER 1

REF: A. KATHMANDU 2166


B. KATHMANDU 2154

Summary
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1. (C) UNDP Resident Representative Mathew Kahane told DCM
August 18 that a small UN team will arrive in Kathmandu by
September 1 to start work on the 5-point GON/Maoist request
to the UN for assistance (ref A). Kahane said that the
five-person team would include representatives of UN
technical agencies competent in each of the areas in which UN
assistance was requested by the GON and Maoists. He expected
arms management to be a contentious, complicated, and
drawn-out process. Regarding monitors, the UNDP ResRep said
that the UN was considering redeploying Nordic monitors who
are being withdrawn from Sri Lanka. The UN team will work on
an open-ended basis in Nepal under the aegis of the Secretary
General.

Five Areas of Requested Assistance
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2. (C) Kahane reprised the five areas in which the GON and
Maoists had requested UN assistance. He noted that in some
areas, in particular human rights monitoring and cease fire
code of conduct monitoring, UN agencies are already actively
operating in Nepal. The five GON/Maoist requests to the UN
(Ref A) follow:

-- "Continue its human rights monitoring through the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal(OHCHR,
Nepal)

-- Assist the monitoring of the Code of Conduct during the
ceasefire

-- On the basis of the agreement to seek UN assistance in the
"management of arms and armed personnel of both the sides,"
deploy qualified civilian personnel to monitor and verify the
confinement of CPN-M combatants and their weapons within
designated cantonment areas. Later the modalities for all
agreements, including of arms and munitions, will be worked
out among the parties and the UN.

-- Monitor the Nepal Army to ensure that it remains in its
barracks and its weapons are not used for or against any
side. The modalities will be worked out among the parties
and the UN

-- Provide election observation for the election of the
Constituent Assembly in consultation with the parties."

Arms Management, Monitors
--------------


3. (C) Kahane said that he expected the issue of arms
management to be particularly contentious and complicated,
and to take a long time to resolve. He noted the vague
language used in the GON/Maoist request to the UN for
assistance on arms management. Getting to a point where the
Maoists would agree to separation of arms under a dual key
approach would take painstaking, extended, and time consuming
negotiation, he warned. Kahane added that the 5-member UN
team clearly would not be in a position to do any arms
management monitoring itself. He said, however, that the UN
had already given consideration to redeploying Finnish,
Danish and Swedish cease-fire monitors who were being
withdrawn from Sri Lanka to Nepal. The UNDP ResRep noted
that the Norwegians and Danes had already approached the UN
to offer monitoring assistance. Kahane did not know when
monitors might be deployed to Nepal.

UN Mandate
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4. (C) The UNDP ResRep told the DCM that the expected UN
team would be working in Nepal on an open-ended basis under
the aegis of the Secretary General. He noted that the SecGen
has limited contingency funds which would cover the cost of
the mission. According to Kahane, SG Anan has a personal
interest in maintaining momentum on Nepal's transformation to
a peaceful democracy. Anan had been so incensed at being
lied to by King Gyanendra about his intention to restore
democracy during a meeting in Jakarta in April of last year
that the SecGen had retained a particular interest in Nepal.
Kahane pointed out that deploying a UN mission under the good
offices of the Secretary General severely constrained funding
available for the mission. He regretted India's insistence
that an expanded UN presence in Nepal not be under a Security
Council mandate.

Comment
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5. (C) The impending arrival of the UN team is good news, and
an important step in keeping the momentum up in Nepal's
delicate peace process. The small UN team, while welcome,
will be challenged by the expectations of both the GON and
the Maoists. The GON, for its part, hopes the UN presence
will force the Maoists to abandon violence and come into the
political mainstream. The Maoists, on the other hand, seem
to consider the UN useful idiots, harkening back to Lenin.
Active assistance and advice for the UN effort by the U.S.,
India and other interested countries, especially potential
monitor countries, will be essential to keeping Nepal's peace
process on track. We must make clear to the UN team that we
fully support the government's position that the Maoists can
not enter an interim government until they are separated from
their weapons.
MORIARTY