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