NEPAL ARMY PUNISHES SOLDIERS WHO ABUSED POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002971 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM NP SUBJECT: NEPAL ARMY PUNISHES SOLDIERS WHO ABUSED POLICE REF: A. KATHMANDU 2089 ¶B. SECSTATE 181356 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Soldiers Punished For Abusing Police -------------- ¶1. (U) According to an October 29 press release from the Nepal Army (NA),the General Military Court had issued sentences against four NA officers and 12 non-commissioned officers involved in the July 29, 2006 attack on a Nepal Police post in central Kathmandu (reftel). The soldiers had surrounded the police post and abducted and tortured three police officers. The soldiers acted at the instigation of NA Captain Robin Rana, who had been in a minor altercation with a police officer while intoxicated. The soldiers were from Bhairabnath Battalion in Kathmandu, the same battalion named in the May OHCHR report highlighting serious human rights abuses in late 2003. Sentencing Details -------------- ¶2. (U) Ring leader Captain Rana was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and was terminated from service. Lieutenant Colonel Rajendra Khatri (the Battalion Commander) will not be promoted for three years from the date he is eligible for promotion. Major Anil Khadka will not be promoted for five years from the date he is eligible for promotion. Second Lieutenant Sabin Raj Dura will not be promoted for one year from the date he is eligible for promotion. Sergeant Resham Shrestha was sentenced to 45 days in military custody and will not be promoted for one year from the date he is eligible for promotion. According to sources inside the NA, the delay in promotion effectively ended the careers of all of the officers involved. A group of eleven non-commissioned officers involved in the incident were also sentenced to 45 days in military custody. This sentence should not adversely affect their future careers in the NA. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) The action by the General Military Court shows that the Nepali Army is taking its responsibility for the protection of human rights and to take action against soldiers involved in committing crimes seriously. As reported septel, the Ambassador raised the Rana case as well as the previous Bhairabnath abuses with Chief of Army Staff Katawal on November 1. Post will continue to push the NA to punish abusers and to conduct trials and courts martial in a transparent, swift, and effective way. MORIARTY