POLICE PUNISH HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000863 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SA/INS, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCRM NP SUBJECT: POLICE PUNISH HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS REF: KATHMANDU 819 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Government Takes Action Against Unethical Police -------------- --- ¶1. (C) On March 27, the police announced that they had taken departmental action against 996 police personnel for behaving "against the ethics of the police department" between April 2005 and March 2006. The Police Human Rights cell told Emboff that internal police investigations found 109 police personnel guilty of human rights violations, while the remainder of cases were for corruption and other inappropriate behavior. Government action against all violators included firing 72 police personnel, suspending 57 persons, and warning 717 persons. The police headquarters statement noted "we stopped the promotion of 91 police personnel and decreased the grade of 59 police personnel during the year." Police reported that out of 167 cases filed by civilians against police personnel, the police investigated and found 40 complaints to be genuine and 56 complaints to be false, and were currently investigating 48 complaints. The other 23 cases were resolved by compromise with the complainants. The police stated that a total of 9,244 crimes took place in the country from April 2005 to March 2006, an increase of 622 crimes compared to April 2004 to March 2005. ¶2. (U) A March 29 editorial in the English-language daily The Himalayan Times titled "Cleaning the Cleaners" praised police action saying, "it is good that those guilty of misusing authority in the police department have been brought to book in a benefiting manner." It continued, "it would be better if other sectors drew a lesson from this initiative and followed suit in the process to root out corruption and rights abuses from the system." RNA Probing Human Rights Allegations -------------- ¶3. (C) The Royal Nepalese Army team investigating allegations (reftel) that RNA soldiers "manhandled" and "terrorized" "more than 100" local residents in Imaliya Village, Kanchanpur District in far western Nepal found that RNA members "used force inappropriately." From March 22 to 25, RNA soldiers summoned dozens of villagers and beat them at an RNA post in Kanchanpur because the villagers allegedly had provided food and shelter to Maoists. The RNA actions against civilians began after the Maoists reportedly killed an RNA soldier on leave in a village near Imaliya on March ¶22. Major Sanjaya of the RNA Human Rights Cell told Emboff that the RNA court of inquiry into the incident was ongoing. While he expected it would be completed in the next few days, he noted that he was unable to predict the outcome or what type of action would be taken until the official inquiry ended. Under military law, RNA members found guilty in a court of inquiry could face a court martial. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) While impunity of official violators remains a key human rights concern, Post welcomes security service efforts to be more responsible in punishing wrongdoers. MORIARTY