UNMIN CHIEF SAYS MAOIST COMBATANT VERIFICATION TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001168 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PTER MARR KDEM UN NP SUBJECT: UNMIN CHIEF SAYS MAOIST COMBATANT VERIFICATION TO START JUNE 14 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Ian Martin, the head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN),announced at a June 12 press conference that UNMIN would begin verification of Maoist combatants on June ¶14. Martin also highlighted the importance of public security for a free and fair Constituent Assembly election and the need for the Maoist leadership to ensure the Young Communist League (YCL) operated within the law. Dr. Shekhar Koirala, a nephew and close adviser to Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, had told Emboff June 11 that he expected verification of Maoist "combatants" to start June 13 or 14. He noted that UNMIN was starting with easier cantonments, and raised concern that the process would not be a smooth one. Dr. Koirala stated that the Prime Minister had told Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda) June 10 that he was determined to hold a Constituent Assembly election in November. The PM had also insisted that the Maoists make that possible by ending abuses by the YCL. Dr. Koirala voiced concern that a deal on the election system might still prove elusive because of obstruction by the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist. The PM's nephew added that the PM and Dahal had agreed to move ahead on forming a number of commissions set forth in the Interim Constitution. Combatant Verification Starting -------------- ¶2. (U) At a press conference on June 12, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and chief of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) Ian Martin declared that the second phase of arms management would begin on June 14. The process would be "carried out by teams led by UNMIN arms monitors, which include UN Development Program registration personnel and UNICEF child protection officers." He stated that the purpose of the process was to establish the age of the "combatants" in the People's Liberation Army camps -- to ensure they were at least 18 years of age -- and the date of their recruitment. UNMIN had to ensure they were recruited prior to May 25, 2006, the date of the Ceasefire Code of Conduct and the cutoff date under the Arms Management Agreement, for combatants to be entitled to remain in the cantonments. Martin added that as soon as the verification process for the first site was complete, the findings would be discussed with the Maoists so appropriate arrangements could be made for those who were leaving the cantonments. Public Security Needs To Be a Priority -------------- ¶3. (U) The UNMIN head also emphasized that the Government of Nepal as a whole and the Maoists in particular had to make public security a priority for a free and fair Constituent Assembly election to be possible. This meant that there had to be a suitable plan to provide security on election day but also the appropriate environment between now and the election for all the political parties to conduct their activities across the country without interference or threat. Martin noted as well that he had emphasized to Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda) that the Young Communist League (YCL) had to operate in accordance with the law and human rights standards. Martin also criticized the Maoists for transferring People's Liberation Army (PLA) combatants to leadership positions in the YCL. Violence of any kind was prohibited. The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative stressed that creating a favorable atmosphere for the election faced considerable challenges, and time was running out for necessary preparations. Verification To Face Challenges -------------- ¶4. (C) On June 11, Prime Minister Koirala's nephew and close adviser, Dr. Shekhar Koirala, had reported to Emboff that he KATHMANDU 00001168 002 OF 003 expected UNMIN to begin the process of verifying the bona fides of the 30,000 plus alleged PLA combatants on June 13 or ¶14. Dr. Koirala indicated that UNMIN chief Ian Martin had told him earlier on June 11 that the process would begin with the so-called "First PLA Division" in far-eastern Nepal. That division's PLA commander was considered to be relatively reasonable. The idea was to try to get the process moving and deal with the more difficult divisional commanders at the end. The Prime Minister's nephew expressed concern that UNMIN would have difficulty identifying those adult camp inhabitants illegally recruited by the PLA since May 2006. Based on his discussions with the Maoists, he anticipated less difficulty winnowing out the children. He noted that the Maoists expected that UNMIN would also disqualify all "combatants" who were disabled. The Endgame on Verification -------------- ¶5. (C) Dr. Koirala said he was not sure what would be the end result of the verification process. By his estimation, 30 to 40 percent of the PLA had gone into the YCL, instead of the UN-monitored cantonments. Emboff stressed that post had made the point to UNMIN, including in a June 6 discussion with UNMIN political advisor John Norris, that the process needed to run its course. The UN and the international community would have to immediately denounce any attempt by the Maoists to short circuit the process. (Comment: We have been hearing talk for weeks that there could be a political deal between the parties and the Maoists to set the number of combatants at an artificially high number of 15,000.) The PM's nephew agreed with that vigilant approach and asked how many bona fide combatants, in our view, were in the camps. Emboff replied that the total was probably less than 10,000. Dr. Koirala voiced concern that something would have to be done with those whom the UN determined to be unqualified. Emboff answered that the donors were already looking at the possibility of programs to reintegrate them into society. PM Determined To Hold Election in November -------------- ¶6. (C) The PM's nephew also confided that, at a meeting June 10, which he had attended along with Home Minister Krishna Sitaula and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, the Prime Minister had told the senior Maoist leadership he was determined to hold a Constituent Assembly election in November. G.P. Koirala had stressed to Maoist chief Dahal and his deputy Dr. Baburam Bhattarai that the Maoists had to help create an environment so the election could take place. This meant that abuses by the YCL had to stop, immediately. Dr. Koirala said everyone in the Prime Minister's Nepali Congress Party (NC) was very concerned about the YCL's activities. The League could not be permitted to continue to take the law into its own hands. Other Electoral Issues -------------- ¶7. (C) Dr. Koirala admitted that another serious concern was that the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML) would not cooperate with the NC on the electoral system. In this regard, the UML seemed less flexible than the Maoists. The PM's nephew said he was worried that the UML would hold out for a purely proportional system, perhaps in alliance with the janajati and Madhesi groups that were also calling for this system to be adopted. Emboff responded that post's latest information was that the UML was not so firmly set on abandoning the mixed system set out in the Interim Constitution. Moreover, it was public knowledge that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had strongly advised UML General Secretary M.K. Nepal during their June 5 meeting in New Delhi to work more closely with the NC. Dr. Koirala said that he had advised the Prime Minister to ensure the Interim Parliament had passed the required electoral legislation before the PM announced a new election date. If the date were announced first, and then the election legislation got KATHMANDU 00001168 003 OF 003 held up, the other parties would all blame the PM. Agreement on Commissions -------------- ¶8. (C) The Prime Minister's nephew mentioned as well that Maoist chief Dahal had agreed at the June 10 meeting to move ahead on several constitutionally mandated governmental commissions -- including the National Human Rights Commission, the Commission on Disappearances, and the Commission on State Restructuring. (Note: The last is a commission on making Nepal a federal state. End note). Dahal accepted that the second commission would need to investigate disappearances committed by the Maoists also. With respect to land returns, Dr. Koirala stated that this was an issue the Prime Minister had raised at the same June 10 meeting. The Maoist chief had agreed to go in person to Bardiya District in midwestern Nepal (Terai) to push Maoist cadre to return land, but Dahal had won a concession from the PM that the Government of Nepal would make some arrangements for the landless people whom the Maoists had settled on that land. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) After weeks of waiting for the second phase of arms management to begin, we apparently have a start date. As it turned out, the June 8 payment to the Nepali Government to the Maoists of Nepali Rupees 92.5 million (approximately USD 1.4 million) broke the logjam. This worked out to NRs 3,000 (approximately USD 45),representing one month's salary, to each person in the cantonments, including, as we understand it, babies born in the camps over the past six months -- although we strongly suspect the Maoist leadership will skim off a large portion of the money. Perhaps the more difficult question is how the verification process will proceed. We expect it could be rocky. There are persistent reports that some of the Maoist "divisional" commanders are extremely unwilling to see what, in effect, are new PLA units disbanded. Even if a proper verification process is allowed to run its course, preventing adult ex-camp residents from joining the Young Communist League will be a difficult task. The launch of verification, assuming it happens, will be good news for Nepal's peace process, but the end of the process remains far out of sight. MORIARTY