GUIDANCE: NOVEMBER 6 UNMIN CONSULTATIONS

UNCLAS STATE 113591

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNSC NP
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: NOVEMBER 6 UNMIN CONSULTATIONS


1. (U) This is an action request. USUN is instructed to draw
from the points in paragraph 2 below during consultations
following the UN Security Council briefing on the UN Mission
in Nepal (UNMIN) scheduled for November 6, 2009.


2. (U) Begin points:

I would like to thank Representative Landgren for her
briefing. I would also like to thank the Representative and
her staff for their contributions to the Secretary General's
report.

The Secretary General's report notes a few positive
developments in Nepal's peace process. The Special Committee
to supervise, integrate and rehabilitate Maoist ARMY
personnel has resumed its work. Its Technical Committee has
proposed a mechanism for the supervision of Maoist ARMY
personnel, as well as a code of conduct for them. Moreover,
both the Maoist ARMY and the Nepal ARMY have -- on the whole
-- complied with the confinement of their forces to
cantonments and barracks, respectively, as stipulated in the
2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). These are laudable
achievements and suggest that all parties in Nepal remain
committed to the basic framework of the CPA.

Despite these small steps, however, Nepal's peace process
remains in crisis. The Secretary General's report accurately
depicts a situation of prolonged stalemate among the major
parties regarding the implementation of the terms of the CPA.
We share the Secretary General's assessment that the core
commitments in Nepal's peace process have yet to be
implemented. We further call upon the leaders of all the
major parties in Nepal to move past the mistrust that has
stymied progress on central elements of the peace process.

We are particularly concerned about the slow progress in the
discharge of approximately 4,000 disqualified personnel,
almost 3,000 of whom are minors, from the Maoist cantonments.
We support the steps taken on October 11 to begin the
discharge process, and call on the Government of Nepal and
the Maoist leaders to provide energetic leadership to ensure
the speedy resolution of this issue. The successful
discharge of these disqualified personnel -- and their
rehabilitation and reintegration into Nepali society -- is a
critical first step in moving forward on the core commitments
outlined in the CPA. In addition, we note that, three years
after the signing of the CPA, approximately 19,000 Maoist
combatants remain in cantonments. Despite the resumed
meetings of the Special Committee and the Technical
Committee, no agreement has been achieved on the future of
these Maoist ARMY personnel. We reiterate the Secretary
General's call on all parties to build consensus on this key
issue of ARMY integration, a central element of Nepal's peace
process.

Equally important, we share the Secretary General's concern
over the repeated delays in drafting the new constitution.
We urge the leadership of all parties to work for consensus
on key substantive issues in the constitution drafting
process, including federalism and the shape the government
should take. We commend the election in August of a chair
for the Constitutional Committee. However, we are dismayed
that the drafting process is falling farther and farther
behind schedule. We call on the senior leaders of the main
parties to engage fully in the Constituent Assembly
discussions on the new constitution, and to meet the
scheduled May 28, 2010 completion date.

Today, Nepal's peace process faces the challenge of political
stalemate and drift. It is time for leaders of all the major
parties in Nepal to exercise leadership, and to build
consensus, on the core commitments of the peace process. The
United States will maintain its support to the people of
Nepal and their efforts to complete the peace process. As
always, we will remain good friends, as Nepalis work to build
a prosperous and peaceful future for their country.

End points.
CLINTON