NEPAL: DISCHARGE OF DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000129 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: DISCHARGE OF DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS COMPLETE REF: KATHMANDU 00016 Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i., Donald A. Camp. Reasons 1.4 (b /d). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Maoist army discharged 268 combatants from the last of seven cantonments on February 8, marking a major political step forward in the peace process. The ceremony was attended by members of the diplomatic community, including U.S. Charge Camp, and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda". This marks the end of the discharge process for the 4,008 disqualified combatants, nearly 3,000 of which had been disqualified because they had joined the Maoist army as minors. The future of the discharged combatants is uncertain, although UN agencies will attempt to monitor the discharged combatants whereabouts and enroll them into rehabilitation programs throughout the next year. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On February 8, members of the international community, including the heads of mission from the UK, EU, Russia, China, France, Canada, Finland, Norway, Japan, and country directors from UNDP, UNMIN, and UNICEF arrived in the Maoist Cantonment Site of Rolpa, situated atop a ridgeline in the hills of western Nepal. The region was a Maoist stronghold during the conflict, and the site of the first major battle between the Maoist army and the Nepal government in 2001. Of the 451 combatants who were disqualified in 2007, UNDP and UNICEF had recounted, issued new ID cards to and collected contact information from 268 disqualified combatants. DISCHARGE CEREMONY -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The discharge ceremony was an emotionally charged event. The 268 disqualified combatants sat before Prachanda, Maoist army commander Nanda Kishor Pun "Pasang", deputy commander Chandra Prakash Khanal "Baldev", and political head Barshaman Pun "Ananta". Roughly 100 Maoist army verified combatants in clean crisp Maoist army uniforms sat behind and around the disqualified, while Nepalis from nearby villages watched from the sides. The local Nepal Police official and Armed Police Force official attended as well. ¶4. (SBU) Prachanda told the disqualified that they had made sacrifices for the Maoist party during the "People's War," and their discharge was the latest sacrifice. He said political groups were trying to disrupt the peace process, because they do not want to see a Maoist-drafted constitution passed in May. The Maoists "have to demonstrate commitment to the peace process to keep the constitution moving, and therefore this discharge process is our contribution to the peace process. History will tell who is disqualified and who served the nation, and you all qualify as serving the nation." Pasang added that it was painful to send the disqualified away, and he expected them to "keep the struggle alive" and work on institutional change in their home villages as civilians. Then the vice commander officially discharged the combatants. ¶5. (SBU) The combatants then lined up to shake hands with Prachanda, Pasang and Baldev and receive a garland of flowers. They boarded several buses -- with a new backpack of civilian clothes provided by the UN -- and departed to one of three nearby villages where they could take buses back to their home villages. DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS DIVERSE GROUP -------------- ¶6. (C) The disqualified combatants were a diverse and emotional group. Some were crying during the final discharge announcement, but others were laughing and seemed excited to be leaving. About 40 percent of the combatants were women. Some combatants were clearly still under 18 years of age, and at least five women combatants had infants with them. They were all dressed in civilian clothes, per the requirement that they leave their uniforms at the cantonment. UNMIN KATHMANDU 00000129 002 OF 003 political officer Anuraj Jha reported that many disqualified told the UN they planned to stay involved in the Maoist party after they left. DISCHARGED COMBATANTS BY THE NUMBERS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Of the combatants disqualified in 2007, roughly 55 percent were present for the discharge ceremonies. The Maoist army vice commander in Rolpa said that many of the disqualified left over a year ago, a statement echoed in previous discharge ceremonies, according to UNMIN Chief Karin Landgren. The Maoists discharged the following combatants: - Sindhuli: 371 disqualified, 201 discharged on January 7 - Chitwan: 586 disqualified, 258 discharged on January 17 - Nawalparasi: 622 disqualified, 361 discharged on January 21 - Ilam: 876 diqualified, 476 discharged on January 25 - Kailali: 468 disqualified, 334 discharged on January 31 - Surkhet: 630 disqualified, 494 discharged on February 3 - Rolpa: 451 disqualified, 268 discharged on February 8. ¶8. (C) The Maoists have promised to issue a declaration publicly discharging the disqualified combatants who were not present at the discharge ceremonies, according to UNDP Chief Robert Piper. UNDP does not believe the disqualified are hiding out in the cantonments, and said that they likely "deserted" and might not want to be found by the Maoist army. CONCERNS ABOUT FUTURE -------------- ¶9. (C) In order for the Maoists to be removed from the UN list of groups that use child soldiers, they agreed to allow the UN to monitor the former combatants for six months. UNDP, OHCHR, and UNICEF will spot check the locations and activities of discharged combatants and will visit cantonments and other Maoist offices to look for evidence that discharged combatants have re-joined Maoist militant organizations. As part of the discharge process, UNICEF took cell phone numbers of almost all the disqualified. UNDP Head of Peacebuilding and Recovery Unit Michael Brown acknowledged monitoring will be a very challenging task. Roughly ten percent of the disqualified have already contacted the UN about accessing rehabilitation programs (reftel). However not everyone will take advantage of the programs. Also, the disqualified are not prohibited from joining the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) as a political member. The monitors will have a difficult job sorting out who is rejoining the ranks of a militant organization (namely the Young Communist League),and who is becoming a regular civilian member of the party. MAOIST ARMS SECURE -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The international community toured the arms monitoring area and inspected the weapons containers with the Maoist Cantonment vice commander and Arms Monitors from UNMIN. The weapons, in two 20 foot containers, were surrounded by a barbwire fence, alarmed, and monitored via video camera by UN Arms Monitors posted in a tent immediately next to the containers. The weapons in the containers were mixed, but the majority were WWI-era .303 British Enfields. The Arms Monitors stated that weapons from the containers have never gone missing. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) The completion of the discharge of the disqualified combatants is a major political step that was unimaginable a few months ago. It is also an indication the Maoists are shifting their tactics, to focus on completing the constitution. This discharge also fulfills one of the U.S. benchmarks for removal from the terrorist exclusion lists. ¶12. (C) The UN and the Nepal Government watched this discharge process closely, for lessons to apply to the potential integration and rehabilitation of the roughly KATHMANDU 00000129 003 OF 003 19,000 verified Maoist combatants. However no one is willing to offer suggestions until high-level political decisions are made on how to integrate and rehabilitate these combatants. Our assessment is that the UN teams did a superb job of processing the disqualified combatants at each site, and could scale up to assist in processing the rest of the combatants if asked by the government. CAMP