US embassy cable - 05KATHMANDU2493

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002493 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS 
NSC FOR RICHELSOPH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EAID, MCAP, PTER, NP 
SUBJECT: FEAR AND HOPE IN EASTERN, RURAL NEPAL 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 2407 
 
Classified By: Classified by James F. Moriarty; Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (C) During a November 9-10 visit to the Morang and 
Dhankuta Districts in Eastern Nepal, the Ambassador met with 
the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) new Biratnagar 
team, journalists, NGO representatives, government officials, 
members of the business community, and discovered 
considerable fear of and little sympathy for the Maoists in 
the east.  While the number of Maoists in the East was not 
extensive, apprehension in the villages remained rampant, the 
NHRC team told the Ambassador.  NGO representatives and 
journalists highlighted the lack of presence by government 
and security forces.  Dhankuta Appellate Court judges noted 
that Maoist terror had resulted in a drastic decrease in 
cases filed by villagers.  The Ambassador also visited a 
USAID-funded literacy program for girls and met with 
underprivileged Dalit children.  A visit to a tea plantation 
highlighted the positive effects of promoting high-value crop 
production to farmers, since increased prosperity in rural 
areas would undermine the Maoists' base.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MAOISTS REMAIN A THREAT 
----------------------- 
 
2. (C) Kuber Singh Rana, Senior Superintendent of Police of a 
zonal office headquartered in Dharan, estimated that there 
were 2,500 armed Maoist militants in a region covering six 
districts.  Rana noted that there were about 5,000 personnel, 
about half of whom were RNA soldiers, under the Unified 
Command to oppose the Maoists.  (Note:  Not all of the 5,000 
would be armed as most civil police do not carry weapons.  A 
ratio of less than 2:1 of security personnel to insurgents is 
not favorable to the government, especially given Nepal's 
terrain.  End note.)  Rana also stated that it was an "open 
secret" that the police did not have enough ammunition to 
 
SIPDIS 
train with their World War II-era rifles.  Rana said that 
since their cease-fire, Maoist attacks had decreased. 
However, the Maoists were still recruiting and training, 
collecting arms and logistical support in the zone.  Maoist 
extortion remained rampant. 
 
3. (C) Since the September 3 declaration of the Maoist 
ceasefire, an NHRC promotion officer stated, NHRC Biratnagar 
had received no reports of crossfire between insurgents and 
government security forces in the eastern region.  However, 
while the Maoists had cut back on violent attacks, they 
continued to recruit civilians and force them to participate 
in the insurgents' political programs.  The Maoists had also 
imposed passports in parts of rural Nepal.  The "Terai 
Liberation Front," a splinter faction of the Maoists, had 
also created a "new headache" in the area through abductions 
and forced donations.  The group had also added an ethnic 
dimension to the conflict by forcing tribal people from the 
hilly areas out of Siraha District. 
 
FEAR OF MAOISTS RAMPANT IN THE VILLAGES ... 
------------------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Even though Maoist presence in Eastern Nepal was not 
extensive, fear in the villages was rampant, both Chief 
District Officer (CDO) Sambhu Ghimire and NGO representatives 
told the Ambassador.  A "complete absence of government" was 
to blame, NGO representatives explained, lamenting that even 
UN agencies such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner 
for Human Rights (OHCHR) had yet to visit Eastern Nepal's 
rural areas.  Security forces generally patrolled the areas 
surrounding their district headquarters and rarely ventured 
beyond the main roads, fearing for their own safety, the 
representatives stressed.  Political parties were "honest, 
but weak" at the village level, they added, with little 
ability to extend their presence in the rural areas even 
after the Maoist ceasefire.  Elections could build the 
confidence of the people, the Ambassador suggested, which 
would undermine the Maoists' hold on the rural population. 
The CDO commented that his office had already issued voter 
identity cards and prepared a security plan to ensure voters' 
safety. 
 
... CAUSING JUDICIAL CASES TO DROP, 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) Their court's caseload had dropped by ninety percent 
over the last three to four years, Chief Judge Kamanda Prasad 
Dev and Judge Kem Raj Sharma, Dhankuta Appellate Court, told 
the Ambassador.  While the Ambassador noted this downward 
trend was consistent with other areas he had visited, the 
judges cited fear of and intimidation by the Maoists as well 
as the court's inability to reach remote areas to serve 
papers as reasons.  They also pointed out the remnants of gun 
shots on their front gate, where Maoists had killed the 
Court's security guard six months prior.  A "fear psychosis" 
remained, they added.  The judges speculated that villagers 
feared Maoist retribution if they brought cases to court 
(rather than using the Maoist "court system").  The judges 
also noted that no Maoist had ever been tried on terrorist 
charges in Nepal. 
 
AND IDPS TO INCREASE 
-------------------- 
 
6. (C) Nepal's young people suffered the most, the NHRC team 
explained, as Maoists forcibly recruited them and security 
forces targeted them as suspected Maoists, leading to their 
flight and an ever-burgeoning internally displaced person 
(IDP) problem, which the state did not yet have a policy to 
address.  Separately, a journalist told the Ambassador that 
Maoists' continued pressure on rural families to contribute 
one family member to the insurgency was "eating up an entire 
generation" who were either fleeing the country or increasing 
the masses of Nepal's IDPs.  The reporter added "they have 
nowhere to go, but they're going." 
 
JOURNALISTS: PEACE LOSING GROUND 
--------------------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) During an informal lunch with six journalists from 
the eastern region, the Ambassador stressed that the 
government's restrictions on press freedoms had been a "step 
away" from democracy.  The ultimate goal remained a return to 
a functioning democracy.  The question remained how to get 
the Palace and the Parties to begin a dialogue.  Journalists 
noted that the gap between the King and the Parties was 
widening, which, the Ambassador noted, put Nepal at great 
risk, as the Maoists had been able to use the growing 
division to their advantage.  The Palace's recent media 
ordinance proved that the split would be increasingly 
difficult to bridge, the journalists explained, adding that 
the eastern region's four FM stations had ceased broadcasting 
news since the ordinance.  One journalist observed that the 
growing divide between the Palace and the Parties, combined 
with the talks between the Parties and the Maoists, indicated 
that it is "peace that is losing ground." 
 
8. (SBU) Underlining that the U.S. government remained deeply 
worried about Nepal's Maoist problem, the Ambassador told 
journalists that the ultimate solution would be for the 
Maoists to lay down their arms and return to the political 
mainstream.  The unilateral Maoist ceasefire, however, was 
"no indication" that the Maoists were ready to do this, as 
they continued to extort, abduct and terrorize civilians; if 
the Palace were to respond, it could be an important "test of 
the Maoists' resolve," the Ambassador stated. 
 
NHRC EASTERN OFFICE:  BUILDING A HUMAN RIGHTS CULTURE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
9. (C) At the National Human Rights Commission's Eastern 
Nepal Biratnagar office, Diana Baker, a USAID-funded 
international advisor, along with the Nepali team of 
protection officers, a promotion officer, and the regional 
director, explained that they had been working hard to 
"inculcate a human rights culture" in Nepal's eastern region 
since the NHRC Biratnagar office opened in February 2005. 
They noted that 378 cases had been registered with their 
office since February, which included 205 alleged violations 
by the government, 156 by the Maoists, and 17 by others. 
While none of the Nepali staff was specifically trained in 
conducting human rights investigations, they were "learning 
by doing" investigations, monitoring, and awareness raising. 
By putting themselves on the front lines, Baker noted, the 
NHRC team was slowly winning the respect of the human rights 
community, which had broken ties with the NHRC in May when 
HMGN reconstituted the Commission through a method questioned 
by many.  However, many NGOs still refused to attend NHRC 
events if any of the new Commissioners was present. 
 
10. (C) Access to detention centers remained "limited," the 
NHRC team asserted; in RNA facilities, NHRC officials had not 
been permitted to freely roam the grounds and interviews were 
conducted in a meeting room in the presence of security 
personnel.  They said that access was not a problem at 
civilian detention centers.  Since February 1, however, 
access had improved, particularly because the RNA had 
developed human rights cells.  The NHRC remained frustrated 
with the government's failure to respond to its 
recommendations, as well as by its lack of direct 
communication with the Maoists, which had necessitated that 
NHRC issue public appeals.  The NHRC asked for the 
international community's continued support and any human 
rights training it could provide. 
 
BUSINESS COMMUNITY:  ECONOMIC OPTIONS UNDERMINE THE INSURGENCY 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
11. (SBU) Members of the Dhankuta Chamber of Commerce told 
the Ambassador that the Maoists remained their biggest 
concern as the insurgents continued to kill and extort 
business men and women.  "We need democracy first," one 
businesswoman stressed, "and then the Palace, Parties, and 
Maoists can find a way back to peace."  Once these factors 
were in place, the Peace Corps and international investors 
would return to Nepal, Chamber members hoped.  Nepal had good 
market potential with its neighbors, the Ambassador noted, 
but investors would continue to shy away until democracy and 
peace were restored.  One possible economic remedy to address 
the Maoist problem was to encourage smallholder farmers to 
produce high-value crops such as specialty tea.  During a 
visit to a Dhankuta tea plantation, the Vice President of the 
Nepal Tea Association explained that the production of 
specialty tea could increase farmers' incomes by up to forty 
percent, thereby lessening the Maoists' attraction and 
eroding their poor, rural base.  The USAID-supported Tea and 
Coffee Development Alliance had played a key role in 
developing the Himalayan Tea Producers Cooperative, which was 
working with the Specialty Tea Association of America to 
create a Code of Conduct for the industry.  The Cooperative 
had already exported Nepali tea worth USD 1.7 million and 
attracted the interest of Whole Foods and Tazo Tea, a 
division of Starbucks. 
 
USAID-SUPPORTED LITERACY PROGRAMS: CHANGING NEPAL'S FUTURE 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
12. (U) In a visit to the USAID/World Education-supported 
Girls' Access to Education (GATE) program, the Ambassador met 
with more than thirty girls participating in health-based 
literacy classes.  Parents had advocated for the 
participation of their daughters in the GATE program, in 
which 259 students were now learning basic literacy through 
courses focused on issues ranging from keeping their farms 
clean to not getting married before reaching the age of 
twenty.  The program also featured a small loan finance 
program, which allowed girls to borrow sums to start business 
ventures such as vegetable selling and chicken raising.  In a 
separate visit, the Ambassador met with 21 children 
participating in the Scholarship Endowment Program in 
Dhankuta, a USAID-supported Save the Children program.  The 
program works with the Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare 
Organization to support Dalits in pursuing educational goals, 
providing tuition and basic supplies such as books, uniforms 
and kerosene for lamps to study by.  The continuing 
participation of the program's alumni, some of whom have 
pursued graduate studies and successful careers, served as 
testament to the program's ability to help dismantle social 
and economic barriers for Nepal's lowest caste. 
 
COMMENT 
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13. (C) Even though the number of Maoists is not high in 
Nepal's Eastern Development Region, neither is the number of 
security personnel.  Fear remains widespread in the rural 
communities, where there is Maoist penetration into just 
about every village.  The atmosphere is drastically different 
than in Kathmandu, where people have fallen into a state of 
complacency.  Nearly a year after the last major Maoist 
attack inside the city, and particularly since the 
cease-fire, a significant number of Kathmandu-based 
politicians apparently want to believe the Maoists' 
assertions that they are seriously considering giving up 
violence and entering the political mainstream.  The people 
in Eastern Nepal would take such claims with a large grain of 
salt. 
MORIARTY