US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU2035

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002035 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
STATE PLEASE ALSO PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, PHUM, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  MAOIST ACTIVITIES CONTINUE DESPITE NEW 
GOVERNMENT, PEACE FEELERS 
 
REF: A. (A) KATHMANDU 2025 
     B. (B) KATHMANDU 1970 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU)  This message updates Maoist activities since the 
October 11 appointment of Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur 
Chand.  Efforts by Chand's Cabinet to initiate dialogue with 
the insurgents have so far succeeded in lessening neither the 
Maoists' violent activities nor their anti-government 
rhetoric.  A Maoist-affiliated trade union has declared a 
general strike in the Kathmandu Valley for October 28.  The 
National Human Rights Commission issued statements condemning 
violations by both the Maoists and the security forces.  End 
summary. 
 
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PEACE FEELERS 
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2.  (SBU)  The newly installed interim government of Prime 
Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand is letting it be known, both 
publicly and privately, that it is attempting to find ways to 
restart dialogue with the Maoists, whose violent insurgency 
has cost the lives of more than 5,500 Nepalis. The Maoists' 
response to these overtures so far, at least publicly, has 
been cool, resulting in neither a reduction in their violent 
activities nor any tempering of their heated anti-government 
rhetoric.  Many observers expect the insurgents to string the 
new government along for as long as possible, neither 
accepting nor rejecting negotiations, while continuing to 
seek advantage from deep divisions between mainstream 
political parties and the caretaker Cabinet appointed by the 
King. 
 
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TRADE UNION DECLARES BANDH 
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3.  (U)  In addition to the previously announced November 
11-13 general strike, or "bandh," a press release from the 
Maoist-affiliated trade union, received by the media October 
23, threatened a Kathmandu Valley bandh for October 28 unless 
a list of 24 demands, presented to the Labor Ministry and 
selected businessmen, were met.  The demands include a 100 
percent increase in the minimum wage, free accommodations and 
medical care for workers, and free education for workers' 
children. 
 
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CIVILIAN TOLL 
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4.  (U)  The insurgents have killed more than 250 civilians 
since the beginning of the year, including 21 during the 
month of October.  Their victims range from teachers to local 
political workers to hapless passersby.  On October 12 a bomb 
set by suspected Maoists at a statue of late King Mahendra in 
downtown Kathmandu killed one bystander and injured several 
others.  On October 17 a gang of armed Maoists abducted Mohan 
Bahadur Khatri, a retired Army major, from a hotel he owned 
in eastern Nepal, then shot and stabbed him to death.  Khatri 
was respected as a social worker who supported educational, 
medical clinics, and drinking water projects in the area of 
rural Sindhupalchowk where he had built his resort.  On 
October 19 a bomb in a busy street in the Kathmandu Valley 
town of Banepa killed a female vegetable vendor whose sales 
supported two young children.  A bomb set in an auto parts 
store in downtown Kathmandu the evening of October 23 injured 
eight, many of them waiting outside at a nearby bus stop.  On 
October 21 armed villagers in eastern Dolakha District 
secured the release of five men who had been abducted by the 
Maoists several days earlier.  Local press reports on October 
19 noted a skyrocketing dropout rate among school-aged youth 
in Rukum District.  The report attributed the phenomenon to 
increased out-migration from the district by youths 
attempting to avoid Maoist conscription. 
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TOLL ON INFRASTRUCTURE 
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5.  (U)  According to a recently completed USAID study, 
Maoist attacks on hydropower facilities over the past seven 
months have left nearly 132,000 Nepalis without electricity. 
Maoist attacks on telecommunications infrastructure have left 
19 of Nepal's 75 districts with no telephone service.  The 
insurgents have particularly focused their destructive 
activities on the mid-western Maoist heartland, cutting off 
200 Village Development Committees (VDCs) from telephone in 
the past year alone. 
 
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OPERATIONS AGAINST EXTORTION 
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6.  (U) According to local press reports, one civilian was 
killed in crossfire when the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) engaged a 
large band of Maoists attempting to conscript recruits from a 
village in Syangja District in central Nepal October 18-20. 
Acting on reports of Maoist extortion in Bardiya District in 
southwestern Nepal, the RNA mounted an operation resulting in 
the deaths of 15 reported Maoists in the area.  (Note:  The 
largest food distributor in Nepal, who owns a warehouse in 
the area, confirmed to us that Maoist extortion and looting 
had worsened so much that he was considering closing his 
operations there.  End note.)   Reacting to RNA proscriptions 
against local merchants supplying food to suspected Maoists 
in the Maoist heartland, the insurgents have slapped a 
counter-ban on the import of food to the headquarters of 
Rukum District.  As a result, severe food shortages among the 
general population are being reported in Rukum and 
neighboring areas.  Many residents--including, according to 
some reports, civil servants in the area--are leaving the 
vicinity and moving south, where food is more readily 
available. 
 
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RIGHTS COMMISSION FAULTS BOTH SIDES 
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7.  (U) On October 22 the National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC) issued a press release citing the security forces for 
staged encounters; excessive force, including torture; 
illegal detention; and insensitivity to "the basic needs of 
education, food and health rights of the people in (the 
security forces') bid to curb the facilities of the Maoists." 
 The release was based on investigations conducted in 35 
districts.  Presenting a summary of its findings to PM Chand, 
the NHRC urged him to halt the violations and "declare a 
cease fire and lead the process towards peace." 
 
8.  (U)  The NHRC followed up its presentation to Chand with 
an October 23 letter to Maoist leader Prachanda noting 
insurgents' violations of the Geneva Convention.  The 
Commission specifically asked him to stop the indiscriminate 
killing, torture and abduction of civilians and unarmed 
security personnel; destruction of infrastructure and 
development projects; and terrorizing of teachers and 
students.  The letter also urged an end to recruitment of 
children into insurgent ranks, as well as the blockade of 
humanitarian supplies and services. 
MALINOWSKI