NEPAL: ACTIVE MAOISTS, INACTIVE POLICE IN POKHARA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001167

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER KDEM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: ACTIVE MAOISTS, INACTIVE POLICE IN POKHARA


Classified By: Amb. James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
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1. (C) In Pokhara on June 12, Western Region Administrator
Medini Sharma told the Ambassador that attacks by the Maoist
Young Communist League (YCL) were ongoing, despite police
efforts to "coordinate with security forces and political
parties." Political party representatives from the Nepali
Congress, Nepali Congress-Democratic, and Communist Party of
Nepal-United Marxist Leninist expressed the view that recent
Maoist actions were destabilizing the peace process and that
the Maoists had showed they had not yet made a true
commitment to enter the political mainstream. Meanwhile,
civil society representatives were concerned that police
remained inactive in the face of continued YCL violence.

No Change in YCL Behavior
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2. (C) In a meeting with the Ambassador on June 12 in
Pokhara, the capital of Nepal's Western Region, Regional
Administrator Medini Sharma voiced concern about continued
abuses by the Maoist Young Communist League. Despite the
fact that YCL cadres had less of a stronghold in the region
than they did in other parts of the country, Sharma indicated
that League members had continued to carry out occasional
attacks on civilians in his areas of responsibility. When
asked by the Ambassador about the recent YCL attack in
Kapilvastu district (in which YCL members torched five
vehicles and vandalized 10 others),Sharma noted that an
investigation was under way. The Regional Administrator said
he had given orders to arrest the League members responsible,
but his officers lacked proper evidence so far to determine
who was guilty. When asked by the Ambassador whether he
intended to arrest the local leader of the YCL cadre for this
attack, Sharma stated that he would not do so because the
attack had almost certainly been carried out by lower-level
cadre. He agreed with the Ambassador that it was important
for the police to stand up to Maoist abuses and indicated he
was pleased that Prime Minister Koirala seemed to have
toughened his public stance against the YCL. The Regional
Administrator had not seen a change in the YCL's behavior to
date, but hoped that its abuses would begin to decrease as a
result of the PM's new tone.

Political Parties: Maoists Have Not Entered Mainstream
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3. (C) District political party leaders representing the
Nepali Congress (NC),Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D),and
the Communist Party Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML)
emphasized to the Ambassador that the Maoists had yet to
demonstrate a commitment to join mainstream politics.
According to NC-D District President Soviet Adhikary, seven
of the eight political parties in the Interim Government had
a "clear understanding" of the way forward, but the Maoists
had not indicated they wanted a free and fair Constituent
Assembly process. NC District Secretary Poshnath Sharma
stated that the YCL had become increasingly aggressive in
recent months. CPN-UML District Secretary Rabindra Adhikary
noted that the Maoists claimed that they needed to retain
some weapons for their own protection, and that the political
parties should be "understanding" of their difficult
position.

Police Standing By
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4. (C) The political leaders agreed that the police had not
yet started enforcing law and order and that, in some areas,
local residents had formed "neighborhood watch" groups to
protect themselves from Maoist abuses. According to the
politicians, locals in Pokhara had recently chased several
YCL members out of their neighborhood instead of calling the
police. As a result, the Maoists had returned en masse, beat
up a number of locals, and forced residents to pay them

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50,000 rupees (approximately USD 770) to avoid further
confrontation. The attendees agreed that vigilantism would
likely become the norm if police did not take steps to crack
down on the YCL.

Civil Society Organizations: "Turn Slogans Into Action"
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5. (C) Activists from the Nepali human rights NGO, the
Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC),the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC),and the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told the Ambassador
that there had been some reduction, but not an end, to human
rights abuses since the signing of the Peace Agreement in
November 2006. Madhu Panti, Regional Coordinator of INSEC,
stated that Maoist behavior had persuaded many people that it
would not be possible to hold a Constituent Assembly
election. Furthermore, Panti said it was problematic that
residents in Manang and Mustang districts (Himalayan
districts in the north of the Western Region) were not aware
of the elections process at all. Susanne Pedersen, Regional
Chief of OHCHR, asserted that police inactivity throughout
the region was the largest contributing factor to the poor
security situation. According to Pedersen, OHCHR would be
working with the NHRC to develop capacity building programs
for the police. Krishna Bahadur Thapa Magar, District
Coordination Committee Chairman for the Nepal Federation of
Indigenous Nationalities, argued that the Interim Government
needed to take concrete steps immediately to address minority
rights. Up to now, the eight parties had merely been paying
lip service to this idea. Mr. Buddhi Bahadur Gahatraj,
Regional Chairman of the Dalit Welfare Association, agreed,
reminding the Ambassador that all minority groups had to be
included in the process, not just the Madhesi People's Rights
Forum. Members of the human rights community concurred,
noting that the Interim Government should move beyond
promises to concrete reform.

Comment
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6. (C) Political party members, civil society organizations
and human rights groups in Pokhara reflected disillusionment
with the lack of peace in Nepal's peace process. They
faulted the Maoists, particularly the YCL, but also the
police for failing to enforce law and order. As we have been
telling the Government of Nepal for nearly a year, this peace
process must lead to real security for all of Nepal's
citizens if it is ultimately to succeed.


MORIARTY