US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU2280

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 002280 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL 
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 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NP, PGOV, PTER, PHUM, CASC, IN, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL: UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, NOV 22-29 
 
REF: (A) KATHMANDU 2169 
 
     (B) KATHMANDU 2258 
     (C) KATHMANDU 2259 
 
1. Summary: A year after Maoist insurgents unilaterally 
broke a four-month truce with the government, this week saw 
further reports of civilian deaths and widespread 
destruction of public facilities. As two United Nations 
agencies criticized the insurgency for exacerbating the 
already precarious situation of the country's poor and 
disadvantaged, children and schools continued to come under 
Maoist threat, forcing some students to flee their homes to 
avoid forced recruitment. Two interest groups publicly 
opposed the upcoming "indefinite strike" against educational 
institutions called by the insurgents.  Opinion polls showed 
clear support for US military assistance and no faith in 
offers for peace talks by the Maoists.  Conflict in the 
Everest region has raised concerns that celebrations 
commemorating the first successful ascent will have to be 
canceled. End summary. 
 
NAT'L HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGES END TO VIOLENCE; 
CONFIRMS SEVEN CIVILIANS KILLED AT JUMLA 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
2. In a November 28 press statement released after a visit 
to western Jumla district, the National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC) called on the Maoists to stop killing 
unarmed civilians and destroying essential infrastructure 
such as hospitals, schools and banks.   The fact-finding 
mission, sent to investigate a November 14 battle between 
Maoists and government forces (ref A), stated that four 
civilians and three prisoners were among those killed. 
 
3. NHRC has also appealed to the government to address the 
immediate needs of the local citizens and to provide 
compensation to the families of civilian victims in Jumla 
and in other incidents around the country.  In addition to 
visiting the site of last week's battle, the team traveled 
to southwestern Bardiya district to investigate the November 
25 death of two students and a civilian woman who were 
killed along with two police officers when a group of 12-15 
Maoists opened fire on a market. 
 
4. In a break with murderous precedent, sixteen of 18 
policemen kidnapped by the Maoists in their attack have been 
released. (Note: Military and police prisoners were also 
released following the September 7 attack in Arghankanchi. 
End note.) 
 
JUMLA DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT 250,000 USD 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5. The November 14 attack in Jumla did 20 million Nrs 
(250,000 USD) worth of damage, according to local estimates. 
Twenty-eight buildings, including the airport tower, bank, 
post office and education office, were destroyed, together 
with the private homes of three local families.  According 
to local reports, Maoists ransacked the private houses after 
they had taken control of the District Police office, 
walking away with "whatever they could lay their hands on." 
The local branch of Rastriya Banijya Bank claims that it 
lost 1.9 million Nrs (24,300 USD) in cash, and 1.6 million 
Nrs (20,400 USD) in gold.  A government assessment of the 
damage is currently underway. 
 
MAOISTS DISRUPT POWER SUPPLY TO REMOTE DISTRICTS; 
HYDRO PROJECT DELAYED BY ONE YEAR 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
6. Electricity supply to the entire midwestern and 
farwestern regions has been affected by Maoist destruction 
of a 132-kilovolt tower in southern Dang district. 
Following destruction of the tower, Dang and four other 
districts have had to tap into electricity from an adjacent 
power grid.  As a result, all fourteen districts of the 
midwestern and farwestern regions have had to resort to load- 
shedding to meet the demand. 
7. Meanwhile, the director of the 70-megawatt Middle- 
Marsyangdi hydropower project announced that the insurgency 
has delayed construction by least one year.  The conflict 
has made it impossible for construction to continue on a 24- 
hour basis, and tightened security has prevented the project 
from transporting explosives to the construction site. 
Middle-Marsyangdi is the third largest hydropower project in 
the country.  A German development agency has supplied 85 
percent of the 175 million USD project. 
 
UNFPA BLAMES INSURGENCY FOR PLIGHT OF WOMEN 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
8. At a conference to address the effects of political 
disruption on the women of South Asia, United Nations Family 
Planning Agency (UNFPA) representative Bina Pradhan 
expressed concern about the use of women in the Maoist 
insurgency, and said that the conflict has placed Nepali 
women in a desperate situation.  Citing threats against 
civilians, Pradhan said that women and children have been 
among the hardest hit. "At the same time that political 
disturbance has forced many of them to flee homes," she 
said, "those who stayed back are reeling in abject poverty." 
Pradhan stated that women affected by the insurgency were in 
danger of being trafficked as a result of social upheaval 
and bleak economic conditions. 
 
CONFLICT ENDANGERS FOOD SUPPLY 
FOR MARGINAL ECONOMIC GROUPS 
--------------------------------- 
 
9. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) has released a study identifying seven livelihood 
groups as vulnerable to food shortages in the country, and 
stating that the Maoist insurgency is contributing to an 
already precarious situation.  The report recommended 
immediate action to assist subsistence farmers with land of 
less than 0.5 hectares, rural service providers, 
agricultural laborers, porters and urban squatters, the 
groups most affected by food shortage.  Subsistence farmers 
make up 30 percent of Nepal's population and 80 percent of 
those named as most vulnerable. 
 
10. The FAO report cited unproductive land, small-sized 
holdings and lack of irrigation as among the chief causes of 
the food shortage, and charged that the country's armed 
conflict is aggravating the problem.  The report says that 
the insurgency has cut off farming in "several areas," and 
that many forests that served as food and fuel sources for 
the Maoists--and for subsistence groups--have been made off- 
limits by the government. (Note: Post reported food supply 
issues in ref B. End note.) 
 
11. In southwestern Bardiya district, farmers report that 
Maoists have warned them against harvesting their rice or 
any other food grains.  The farmers expect that the 
insurgents will steal the entire anticipated harvest of 40 
metric tons of grain. In northwestern Bajura, locals report 
that Maoists are demanding food from the villagers at 
gunpoint, and imposing taxes on subsistence farmers with no 
cash.  When the farmers can't pay, the insurgents take a 
portion of their harvest. 
 
STUDENTS LEAVE VILLAGES TO AVOID MAOIST DRAFT 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
12. In southern Sarlahi district, students are leaving their 
villages and settling in town centers due to fear of being 
used as human shields by the Maoists.  According to local 
reports, Maoists have been pressuring village families to 
provide 500 Nrs (7 USD) per month or send their children to 
join the insurgency.  (Note: Most farming families in the 
Terai region earn less than 10 USD per month. End note.) 
Students in Sarlahi are afraid to attend school for fear of 
being kidnapped, says a local teacher. 
 
13. Similar tales have come from areas throughout the 
country, including far-eastern Ilam and southwestern Surkhet 
districts.  In Ilam, 150 youths are reported to have fled 
their homes to avoid extortion and forced recruitment, with 
another 65 reported in Surkhet.  A local from one of the 
villages in Surkhet claims that Maoists have already forced 
70 lower caste or poor children to join the insurgency. 
 
14. The threats against students have come in the middle of 
wheat-sowing season, depriving their struggling families of 
much-needed extra labor. 
 
INTEREST GROUPS PROTEST SCHOOL CLOSINGS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
15. At least two organizations have publicly criticized the 
call by Maoists for an "indefinite strike" against 
educational institutions.  Following a meeting with the 
Minister of Education and Sports, members of the Private and 
Boarding Schools' Organization told reporters that they hope 
to be able to convince Maoists that schools have already 
been "set free" and that no further steps need to be taken. 
The All Nepal National Free Students' Union (ANNFSU) has 
declared a plan to rally students from 500 schools and 
colleges to protest the strikes. 
 
STUDENT INJURED BY ATTACK ON SCHOOL; 
MAOISTS BOMB TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY 
----------------------------------------- 
 
16. Officials from a Kathmandu school expressed relief that 
only one student was injured when a Maoist bomb exploded on 
the ground floor of a building packed with students and 
teachers attending afternoon classes on November 28.  The 
bomb, planted by a group of ten young men who forced their 
way onto the campus grounds, exploded in the library, 
destroying four computers and a photocopying machine, and 
blowing out part of the brick wall.  The second and third 
floors of the building were also damaged.  One student, who 
was picking up his school certificates on the ground floor 
when the bomb exploded, suffered minor injuries. 
 
17.  On November 29, an early-morning bomb exploded near the 
administrative offices of Tribhuvan University on the 
outskirts of Kathmandu. The blast damaged the building, but 
no injuries were reported.  Tribhuvan is Nepal's oldest and 
most prestigious university. 
 
OPINION POLLS SHOW NO FAITH IN PRACHANDA, 
APPROVAL FOR US MILITARY AID 
----------------------------------------- 
 
18. Two Internet opinion polls, recently published by the 
weekly Nepali Times, show overwhelming support for US 
military aid to Nepal and a clear lack of faith in Maoist 
leader Prachanda's sincerity.  Respondents were 64.9 percent 
in favor of US military aid. When asked whether Maoist 
leader Prachanda is serious in his latest offer for peace 
talks, 67.7 percent of respondents voted no, with only 26.6 
percent saying yes. 
 
CONFLICT THREATENS EVEREST JUBILEE 
----------------------------------- 
 
19. In yet another blow to tourism, trekking outfitters are 
concerned that planned celebrations commemorating Sir Edmund 
Hillary's historic first ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 will 
be disrupted by the ongoing conflict.  According to 
newspaper reports, trekkers have heard Maoists in the 
Everest region boast that they will attack Lukla airport 
once the tourist season ends later this month, and Post has 
heard increasing reports of Maoist activity in the area (ref 
B).  British trekking outfitter Himalayan Kingdoms was 
reported to be monitoring the situation daily, and prepared 
to refund clients' money if the security situation worsens. 
The 50-year anniversary celebrations are scheduled to begin 
early in 2003.  Tourism in Nepal is reported to have slumped 
by more than 70 percent since the insurgency began. 
 
MAOISTS CONTINUE VIOLENCE AGAINST CIVILIANS 
AND GOVERNMENT FACILITIES 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
20. Maoists in northeastern Taplejung district killed two 
civilians on November 22, taking the young men to the 
playground of a local secondary school before shooting them 
in the back of the head.  On November 23, also in Taplejung, 
Maoists called 28-year-old Laxmi Poudel from his house and 
beheaded him in his front yard.  In the same village on the 
same night, Maoists shot and killed a second young man after 
abducting him from a wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, in 
Kathmandu, Maoists detonated a pressure cooker bomb in the 
home of an ex-policeman. No injuries were reported. 
 
21. On November 26, Maoists burned down the Brahmapuri 
Village Development Committee in southern Sarlahi district, 
destroying all village records.  On the evening of November 
27, a bomb blast destroyed the land revenue office in 
Taulihawa, the capital of southern Kapilbastu district. 
Total loss from the incident is estimated at 500,000 Nrs 
(6370 USD). 
 
MALINOWSKI