NEPAL: YCL CONTINUES TO INTIMIDATE IN RURAL NEPAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000869 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2017 TAGS: PGOV PTER KDEM NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: YCL CONTINUES TO INTIMIDATE IN RURAL NEPAL Classified By: CDA Robert Hugins. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). YCL Continues to Intimidate -------------- ¶1. (C) Nepal Police and Nepal Army sources told Emboff during a trip with Defense Attaches from the U.S., Great Britain, China, Pakistan, and India on April 25 to Dolpa and Dang Districts in rural western Nepal that the Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) continued to intimidate people in the cities and countryside. YCL workers had begun conducting training in both areas to teach their cadre how to intimidate voters and capture ballot boxes. Maoists Do Not Need Dolpa, But Hedging Their Bets -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Nepal Police officers guarding the airfield in Juphal, Dolpa District told Emboff April 25 that the Maoists and the other political parties were cooperating on the surface in Dolpa, but that the Maoists did not allow the other political parties to operate freely. The officer in charge said that the YCL had recently sent two workers from another district to train their cadre in Dolpa. Although intimidation existed in Dolpa, the police were allowed to operate relatively freely and without fear. A Nepal Army officer told Emboff that Dolpa was Nepal's largest district in terms of landmass, but one of the smallest in terms of population (only about 30,000 inhabitants),thus making it less strategically important for the Maoists. Dang Still a Maoist Hotbed -------------- ¶3. (C) A Nepal Army officer in Dang District told Emboff that the YCL were very active in the district and continued to regularly extort money from transport drivers and businesses. The YCL had recently begun training its cadre how to intimidate voters and capture ballot boxes during an election. The officer claimed that the Maoists were not interested in joining the mainstream, but instead were planning to use the system to their advantage to capture state power. The Nepal Army was required to stay in their barracks, and was unable to take any action against the Maoists. Also, the Maoists had not allowed the political parties to leave the district headquarters to campaign or hold rallies. Comment: Hard to Hold an Election -------------- ¶4. (C) It is clear that the Maoists have not changed their modus operandi in the countryside of Nepal, and are continuing to intimidate and extort people to their own ends. The YCL, which many believe is populated by former combatants from the People's Liberation Army who did not enter UN-monitored cantonments, has taken over the role of enforcer of a Maoist version of law and order that rewards their friends and punishes their opponents. The situation is not conducive to a free and fair election any time soon, and until the Government of Nepal decides that it will begin to enforce law and order evenly across the country, a free and fair election will not be possible. ¶5. (C) This cable may be read in conjunction with IIRs 6 867 2016 07 and 6 867 2017 07. HUGINS