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

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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

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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