NEPAL: UNMIN COMPLETES VERIFICATION OF MAOIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002138

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2017
TAGS: PGOV MARR PTER PHUM UN NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UNMIN COMPLETES VERIFICATION OF MAOIST
COMBATANTS


Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) On December 27, the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) chief
Ian Martin announced that UNMIN had verified 19,602 members
of the Maoist People's Liberation Army and disqualified more
than 12,600. In a conversation with the Defense Attache
December 28, the Nepal Army's Director of Public Relations
did not express great concern. While UNICEF has assembled a
team to handle the discharge from the cantonments of the
approximately 3,000 minors identified, the Government of
Nepal (GON) is unprepared to handle the discharge of
disqualified adult recruits. Under the 23-Point Agreement
the Six-Party Alliance signed with the Maoists on December
23, the GON is obliged to pay those verified their
outstanding monthly allowances by mid-February. Those who
have been disqualified are to be paid and sent home.
UNMIN Verifies More Than 19,600 in Maoist Army
-------------- -


2. (U) Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Ian
Martin announced at a press conference on December 27 that
the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) had verified 19,602 members
of the Maoist People,s Liberation Army (PLA),including
3,846 women. UNMIN had completed the verification process on
December 22. Martin noted that 8,640 personnel had not
appeared for verification interviews and were automatically
disqualified. An additional 4,008 were disqualified after
interviews and will need to be discharged from the camps. Of
this total, 2,973 were minors. The rest were over 18 and
found to have been recruited into the PLA after the May 25,
2006 cease-fire. Martin indicated that the final report
would be issued shortly -- after it is discussed by the
UN-chaired Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee.

Nepal Army Not Overly Concerned
--------------


3. (C) In a meeting December 28 with the Defense Attache,
Brigadier General Chhetri, who is the Nepal Army's Director
of Public Relations, stated that the Nepal Army (NA) was not
overly concerned by the number of PLA verified by UNMIN. He
indicated the final total was slightly higher than expected.
During the insurgency, the PLA, he said, had never had more
than 15,000 combatants under arms. The NA anticipated that
the bulk of the combatants will end up joining the Armed
Police Force, the Nepal Police, some future industrial
security force or sent abroad to work. Very few will meet
the strict entry requirements for individuals to join the NA.
As previously indicated, the NA will insist that no intact
Maoist units would be allowed to join. Maoist fighters will
have to renounce their political allegiance before they can
be considered. The trickier question will be how to handle
the senior Maoist officers.

Discharge of Maoist Minors On Track, Not So for Adults
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Post has heard previously from UNICEF Country
Representative Gillian Mellsop and from UNMIN that UNICEF has
assembled a team, including Save the Children, which is
prepared to assist with the discharge of minors. UNICEF and
various NGOs have assigned regional responsibilities and have
already been working in their respective regions to lay the
groundwork for reintegration. According to UNMIN political
advisor John Norris, the situation is much more uncertain for
adults whom UNMIN has disqualified. The UN Development
Program has been working with the Government of Nepal (GON)
on a plan, but it is still rudimentary. Norris told Emboff
December 31 that several of the PLA Deputy Commanders had met
late the week of December 24 with cantonment commanders to
discuss how to handle discharge. He stated that UNMIN hoped
to hold a meeting shortly with the Maoist leadership, the
PLA, the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry and the Finance
Ministry to make arrangements. The Ambassador and other

KATHMANDU 00002138 002 OF 002


diplomats have raised the issue of preparations several times
with the Prime Minister and other senior GON leaders, but
they have failed to act.

Commitment to Pay Monthly Allowances
--------------


5. (C) The 23-Point Agreement that the Six-Party Alliance
signed with the Maoists on December 23 commits the GON to pay
verified Maoist combatants their outstanding allowances by
February 12. By post's calculation, that works out to a
total of approximately Nepali Rupees 588 million (USD 9.3
million). (Note: This is based on the previously agreed
allowance of Nepali Rupees 3,000 per month per combatant for
ten months. This presumes the allowances will be paid from
mid-December 2006 through mid-February 2008 and subtracts the
four months the GON has already paid to all those in the
camps. End Note.) The GON promised as well to pay verified
combatants a monthly allowance going forward. Those who have
been disqualified are also to be paid the monthly allowances
-- although the Agreement gives no due date -- and sent home.
Foreign Secretary Acharya pointed out to the Ambassador
December 31 that payment of the allowances was going to put
considerable strain on the GON's budget. Finance Minister
Mahat made the same point the week of December 24 to the
Ambassador and USAID Director.

Comment
--------------


6. (C) The roughly 19,600 final total of verified Maoist
combatants that UNMIN chief Ian Martin announced December 27
is a great improvement over the 31,000 plus whom UNMIN
registered during the first phase of combatant verification
which finished in March 2007. Although the final numbers are
still high and reflect, by UNMIN's own private admission, a
significant number of Maoist militia and other irregulars,
UNMIN and its UN partners, UNICEF and UNDP, are to be
congratulated for their work. They did they best they could
to winnow out children and new recruits without the benefit
of records and in the face of Maoist efforts to deceive. It
is time now for the Nepali Government to move quickly to make
arrangements for the discharge of those disqualified,
particularly the adults. Those who have been disqualified
still do not know who they are. In general, the sooner they
are out of the cantonments, the better -- although without a
plan in place quickly, unemployed former camp residents risk
turning to crime or the Maoist Young Communist League to make
ends meet.
POWELL