US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU2383

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 KATHMANDU 002383 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY 
TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL/DAUFHAUSER AND DAS JZARATE 
TREASURY ALSO FOR OFAC/RNEWCOMB AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST 
FINANCING 
JUSTICE FOR OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL/DLAUFMAN 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LILIENFELD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, NOVEMBER 29- 
DECEMBER 5 
 
REFERENCE:  (A) KATHMANDU 2298 
 
            (B) KATHMANDU 1649 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.   On November 28, Interpol re-issued red corner notices 
for fourteen Maoists including top leaders Prachanda and 
Baburam Bhattarai.  Despite a highly publicized meeting 
between Maoist leaders and the General Secretary of the 
Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) 
last week in Lucknow, India (Ref A), an Indian intelligence 
agency spokesman said they have "still not found any proof 
that Maoists are in India."  According to press reports the 
Government of India (GOI) claims to have frozen 2,000 bank 
accounts of Nepalis suspected of having links to the 
Maoists.  A December 3 report from a New Delhi publication 
alleges that Maoists are helping China smuggle Chinese 
weapons to insurgent groups in India and Bhutan. 
 
2.  Summary Continued.  Ten security personnel were killed 
and seventeen were injured in clashes with Maoists, while 
sixty-four Maoists reportedly died in the battles.  Several 
Maoist battalion commanders reportedly surrendered to 
security forces declaring they made "a grave mistake" in 
joining the Maoists. A female Maoist who surrendered said 
female cadres are sexually exploited in the organization. 
Development programs in the western district of Dailekh have 
been suspended following the murder of an NGO employee by 
Maoists.  Three other civilians reportedly were also 
murdered by the rebels, and thirty-three others, including 
sixteen students, were abducted.  Maoists continue to close 
educational institutions, and threaten nationwide strikes. 
On November 28, a vernacular newspaper quoted senior Maoist 
Baburam Bhattarai justifying extortion as an "international 
and historic tradition."  According to police authorities, 
there are an estimated 2,500 people leaving daily for India 
from the western district of Kanchanpur.  An underground 
student leader of the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National 
Independent Students' Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) 
reportedly threatened Nepalese students in Hong Kong. 
Several political parties and human rights organizations 
have agreed to form a network to monitor human rights 
abuses.  Maoist FM radio stations in the west have been shut 
down after six months.  End Summary. 
 
RED CORNER NOTICES ISSUED AGAIN 
------------------------------- 
 
3.  On November 28, Interpol issued red corner notices for 
fourteen Maoists, including top leaders Prachanda and 
Baburam Bhattarai.  The senior Maoists are wanted for 
various crimes, including murder and terrorism.  The notices 
were withdrawn earlier in the year at the request of the 
Government of Nepal (GON), as preconditions for peace 
negotiations during the ceasefire.  The notices allow any of 
the 181 member countries of Interpol to arrest the Maoist 
leaders. 
 
4.  On that same day, the Central Bureau of Investigation 
(CBI) of India issued a statement that it will abide by 
Interpol's request.  However, despite a highly publicized 
meeting between Maoist leaders and the General Secretary of 
the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN- 
UML) last week in the northern Indian city of Lucknow (Ref 
A), CBI spokesman G. Mohanti said they have "still not found 
any proof that Maoists are in India."  (Note:  Chandra 
Prakash Gajurel, a senior Maoist on Interpol's list, was 
arrested in India on August 20, and is currently jailed in 
India.  Gajurel was attempting to use a fake passport to 
leave the country on his way to London (Ref B) End note.) 
 
GOI CLAIMS NEPALI ACCOUNTS FROZEN 
--------------------------------- 
 
5.  A Nepali newspaper, citing an article in the Indian 
press on December 2, reported that the Government of India 
(GOI) claims to have frozen 2,000 bank accounts of Nepalis 
suspected of having links to the Maoists.  The newspaper 
quotes an Indian intelligence source as saying that the 
action was taken after the U.S. added the Maoists to its 
asset freeze list, and at the request of the Government of 
Nepal.  Investigations into bank accounts held by Nepalis in 
Indian cities along the Nepal-India border reportedly will 
also be conducted. 
 
DEADLY BATTLE KILLS DOZENS 
-------------------------- 
 
6.  A fierce clash on December 3 between a joint patrol of 
security forces and Maoists in the west reportedly killed 
three policemen, two Armed Police Force (APF) personnel, one 
Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldier and twenty-five rebels. 
Thirteen security personnel were also injured and four are 
missing in the battle that took place in Kailali District. 
On that same day, twelve rebels died in clashes in the 
neighboring districts of Palpa and Arghakhanchi, and seven 
others were killed in the northeastern district of 
Solukhumbu. 
 
7.  Twenty Maoists reportedly were killed in other separate 
incidents throughout Nepal.  On December 2, three were 
killed in the eastern districts of Sarlahi and Panchthar, 
while another died in Doti District in the west.  Five 
rebels were killed on December 1, four in central Nepal in 
Syangja District, and another in Sarlahi.  On November 30, 
eleven insurgents died in clashes.  Nine were killed in the 
eastern districts of Panchthar, Sunsari and Siraha, and two 
were killed in Chitwan, southwest of Kathmandu. 
 
8.  Four security personnel were killed and four others 
injured in Maoist ambushes.  On December 1, one policeman 
was killed in Sindhupalchowk.  On November 30, another 
police officer was killed in Chitwan, and a RNA soldier died 
after Maoists threw a socket bomb at a group of soldiers on 
patrol.  Maoists gunned down an officer in the city of 
Hetauda, and four police were seriously injured on November 
28 after hitting a Maoist planted landmine in Mahottari 
District. 
 
MAOISTS REPORTEDLY HELPING CHINA SMUGGLING ARMS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
9.  A December 3 report published in a New Delhi English 
language newspaper alleges that China is targeting the 
Indian city of Siliguri, with the help of Nepali Maoists, to 
smuggle Chinese weapons to insurgent groups in India and 
Bhutan.  The article charges that Maoists in Nepal's 
district of Ilam, which borders India on the east, are 
aiding several Indian insurgent groups (the United 
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the Kamatapur Liberation 
Organization (KLO), and the National Democratic Front of 
Bodoland (NDFB) in setting up explosives units.  The report 
states that Siliguri in Northern West Bengal has become a 
major market for Chinese-made assault rifles, explosives, 
detonators, and pistols.  Chinese weapons have been used in 
all of the assassinations committed by the Maoists, and have 
also been used in crimes in India and Bhutan. 
 
MAOIST COMMANDERS SURRENDER 
--------------------------- 
 
10.  On November 30, the local press reported that a Maoist 
battalion commander surrendered to security forces.  Man 
Bahadur Malla claims he made "a grave mistake" in joining 
the Maoists five years ago, and said the Maoists have now 
turned into a "fully terrorist organization."   According to 
Malla, who helped transfer insurgents from western Nepal to 
the eastern region, the rebels want to establish a 
totalitarian state, and used the ceasefire not only to 
expand their influence but also to increase their military 
strength.  On December 4, Ananda Shah, an area commander of 
the Maoists in the western district of Dailekh, reportedly 
also surrendered at the RNA's barracks.  Shah told security 
personnel that there is "widespread opposition within the 
Maoists" over the unilateral breakdown of peace talks.  Two 
other Maoist commanders reportedly also surrendered to 
security forces, one in the eastern district of Udayapur, 
and another in the western district of Kalikot. 
 
11.  A female Maoist who surrendered on November 30 told 
reporters that there are children as young as ten years old 
in the Maoist army, and that females are subject to sexual 
exploitation.  Maya Chaudari claimed to have joined the 
organization when she was fifteen years old, and said that 
there were "cases of rape" when the girls did not willingly 
consent to sexual propositions. 
 
12.  Amid speculation about local cadres ignoring 
Prachanda's orders and reports of Maoist cadres deserting 
the organization, a vernacular newspaper reported on 
December 2 that two groups of Maoists clashed with each 
other in the eastern district of Sindhuli, leaving one 
Maoist dead. 
 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS SUSPENDED IN DAILEKH 
----------------------------------------- 
 
13.  On November 30, Maoists reportedly gunned down a female 
Nepali staff member of a local NGO associated with the World 
Food Program (WFP) in the western district of Dailekh, on 
charges of being a spy for the government.  On December 3, 
the WFP, the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and 
the British Department of International Development (DFIF) 
issued a press release stating that support for the Food for 
Work Program has been temporarily suspended in Dailekh 
District, pending an investigation of the murder.  According 
to the statement, the WFP's policy does not accept its staff 
members "being subject to assault, abduction and violence." 
 
14.  The United Mission to Nepal(UMN), an international and 
interdenominational development NGO, has also closed some of 
its programs in Dailekh.  According to UMN Director Devid 
Marki, an informal education program in the district has 
been dissolved due to the lack of security in that region. 
Marki reportedly also said that the mission would re- 
evaluate other programs in the district and make any 
necessary changes. 
 
REBELS CONTINUE TO DISRUPT EDUCATION 
------------------------------------ 
 
15.  Maoists in the central district of Palpa reportedly 
have sent letters to twelve schools ordering them to close 
or face consequences.  Almost 9,000 students will be 
affected by the closures.  Maoists in eastern Nepal have 
also threatened a nationwide education strike on December 7 
and 8, and several sister organizations are threatening 
additional closures throughout the month of December. 
Several schools in the eastern district of Tehrathum have 
already shut down due to Maoist activities. 
 
16. On December 3, a group of Maoists torched two school 
buses in the eastern district of Siraha.  No students were 
on the buses at the time.  Almost 200 students are now 
without transportation. 
 
17.  Twenty-eight youths, including sixteen students from 
various schools in the far western district of Achham, 
reportedly were abducted on November 29 by Maoists. 
 
MAOIST LEADER JUSTIFIES EXTORTION 
--------------------------------- 
 
18.  On November 28, a vernacular newspaper quoted Maoist 
ideologue Baburam Bhattarai as saying that extortion is not 
only permissible, but an "international and historic 
tradition."  Bhattarai claimed that eighty percent of Nepal 
is under control of the Maoists, and "where there is power, 
there is tax collection."  Bhattarai justified the party's 
actions by saying that taxes are collected according to the 
financial status of the people. 
 
MAOISTS MURDER AND ABDUCT CIVILIANS 
----------------------------------- 
 
19.  On December 2, Maoists reportedly killed two civilians. 
One was hacked to death in the western district of Dang 
after the rebels accused him of helping security personnel, 
and another was killed in Siraha District, in the east, 
after being abducted by Maoist cadres.  On November 30, 
Maoists reportedly killed another civilian in the western 
district of Bardiya. On December 5 in that same district, 
seven children were hurt after playing with a bomb left by 
Maoists, which they mistakenly believed was a ball. 
 
20.  Five civilians were abducted by Maoists during the 
week.  On November 27, a teacher in Ramechhap District was 
taken from school, and another teacher was abducted from his 
home in Sunsari District.  Another civilian was also 
abducted from that same district.  Two youths on their way 
to enlist in the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) reportedly were 
abducted by Maoists in the western district of Surkhet.  The 
rebels also destroyed all of the youths' documents, 
including their citizenship papers. 
 
NEPALESE FLEEING TO INDIA IN DROVES 
----------------------------------- 
 
21.  Residents of Taplejung District, which borders India on 
the northeast, are fleeing their homes due to the exorbitant 
extortion demands made by the Maoists.  According to the 
locals, the rebels threaten to seize their houses and land 
if they do not meet the Maoists' demands for money.  The 
insurgents have also threatened to cut off the legs of 
anyone attempting to flee to the district headquarters. 
Villagers say that "life has become miserable." 
 
22.  Nepalese in the district of Kanchanpur, which borders 
India on the west, are also migrating to India in record 
numbers.  According to police authorities, an estimated 
2,500 people leave daily for India from the district.  While 
authorities acknowledge it is common for youths to leave to 
avoid forced Maoist recruitment, they are seeing an increase 
in entire families migrating. 
 
MAOISTS ISSUE LONG DISTANCE THREATS 
----------------------------------- 
 
23.  On November 26, the South China Post in Hong Kong and 
the BBC reported that Naresh Rai, Central Committee Member 
of the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union- 
Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), the Maoist-affiliated student 
organization, reportedly sent an electronic message 
threatening Nepalese students in Hong Kong.  According to 
Nepali students in Hong Kong interviewed by BBC, they feared 
less for their own security than for Maoist violence against 
their families in Nepal.  Rai is currently underground. 
 
CALL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING 
-------------------------------- 
 
24.  Several political parties and human rights 
organizations reportedly have agreed to form a network to 
monitor human rights abuses as a result of the Maoist 
insurgency.  Members of the CPN-UML, the National Human 
Rights Commission (NHRC), Nepali Congress (NC), the Peoples' 
Front Nepal, the Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party (NWPP), 
and the Nepal Sadbhawana Party held a program in Kathmandu 
on December 2 to discuss the deteriorating human rights 
situation.  Krishna Sitaula, a NC leader, alleged "both the 
Maoists and the government are in a race to kill civilians." 
Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the CPN-UML, said 
coordination between the political parties and the NHRC was 
necessary, and human rights abuses should be jointly 
investigated. 
 
MAOIST RADIO STATIONS DEFUNCT 
----------------------------- 
 
25.  Three Maoist-run FM radio stations operating in the 
western district of Rukum for the past six months are now 
defunct.  According to local villagers, the stations were 
shut down due to intensified searches by security forces to 
locate the stations.  Maoist cadres reportedly had issued an 
order to villagers against listening to government-owned 
Radio Nepal. 
 
MALINOWSKI