US embassy cable - 05KATHMANDU2638

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 002638 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS 
NSC FOR RICHELSOPH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PTER, PHUM, PGOV, NP 
SUBJECT: MAOIST ATROCITIES CONTINUE DESPITE CEASEFIRE 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  Despite a three-month unilateral ceasefire announced 
on September 3 by Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist 
Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist), the rebels continued 
to commit atrocities daily.  They attacked infrastructure 
and used extortion and looting to fund their insurgency. 
However, data showed that killings have declined since the 
beginning of the cease-fire.  During the cease-fire, the 
Maoists abducted more than 9,210 civilians, including 
teachers and students.  The All Nepal National Free 
Students Union (Revolutionary) (ANNFSU-R) forced dozens of 
schools to close, affecting over 50,000 students 
throughout the country.  End Summary. 
 
NUMBER OF KILLINGS DOWN AFTER THE CEASEFIRE 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  More than one thousand people died between the Royal 
takeover of February 1 and September 2, but the number of 
killings went down after the CPN (Maoist) announced their 
unilateral ceasefire on September 3.  From September 3 to 
November 20 a total of 67 people died; the security forces 
killed 55 people and the militants killed 12. 
 
MAOISTS CONTINUE TO ABDUCT CIVILIANS AND TARGET SCHOOLS 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
3.  Since the ceasefire announcement, the Maoists have 
abducted more than 9,210 civilians, including a 
journalist, teachers and students, to participate in 
political programs and for indoctrination.  On the day the 
Maoists declared the ceasefire, rebels kidnapped 
approximately 400 students and teachers in Kalikot 
District, 80 civilians in Doti District, and 24 civilians 
in Dolkha and Lamjung Districts.  Insurgents took 25 
dalits (people from the lowest caste) from Lamjung 
District during the first week of November, and on 
November 15, Maoists abducted 560 students and teachers 
from Taplejung District in eastern Nepal and 55 students 
and teachers in Kaski District.  During the next week, 
militants abducted 17 civilians in Udayapur District and 
125 students in Dadeldhura District.  A journalist was 
abducted in Morang District on November 22.  In most 
cases, the Maoists released the students and teachers 
after the indoctrination. 
 
4.  The Maoists and the ANNFSU-R, a student wing of the 
Maoists, continued to target schools.  They have closed 
schools with decentralized management under local 
authority, demanding that the schools be managed by the 
central government.  Maoists have forced dozens of schools 
to close across the country, affecting more than 50,000 
students, including 10,000 in Udayapur District and 25,000 
in Morang District.  The ANNFSU-R locked up dozens of 
schools in Udayapur District after the unilateral 
ceasefire was declared.  The Maoists have ignored repeated 
appeals, including by the National Human Rights 
Commission, to reopen the schools.  All academic programs 
in 19 schools in Jhapa District have been suspended since 
August 17 due to repeated threats from the ANNFSU-R.  Some 
of the schools in that district have re-opened after 
transferring management over to the government of Nepal. 
Several hundred students fled from Arghakhanchi District 
in October when private schools closed after school 
management failed to reduce fees as demanded the ANNFSU-R. 
 
MAOIST ATROCITIES CONTINUE 
-------------------------- 
 
5.  Insurgents continued to attack civilians across the 
country after the unilateral ceasefire began.  Maoists 
shot and injured three civilians, and two children and two 
adults were severely injured in Maoist-planted bomb 
explosions.  The militants shot and killed four civilians 
and abducted and killed two civilians. 
 
6.  Eight security personnel have died since the 
unilateral ceasefire declared by the CPN-Maoist.  A Maoist- 
planted bomb explosion killed two Armed Police Force (APF) 
personnel; an unarmed RNA soldier was found dead in 
Dailekh District; two security personnel died in separate 
incidents in Kavre District.  Three security personnel 
were injured in a Maoist-planted bomb explosion in 
Rautahat District and three security personnel sustained 
minor injuries when a Maoist-planted bomb exploded in 
Dolakha District.  Twenty-one insurgents have been killed 
since the ceasefire began.  Three Maoists and two security 
personnel died in a clash in Makwanpur District; security 
forces killed four rebels in Morang District.  Militants 
attacked and killed one RNA soldier and one security 
person in Kavre District; days later, one security person 
was killed and seven sustained injuries when Maoists 
attacked them in Kavre District on November 20.  On the 
same day, four rebels were killed and 28 sustained 
injuries in a clash that took place in Khotang District. 
 
REBELS ATTACK INFRASTRUCTURE 
---------------------------- 
 
7.  Insurgents continued to attack development 
infrastructure.  On September 20, Maoists bombed office 
buildings of the Village Development Committee (VDC), 
Child Development Center and Agriculture Office in Doti 
District.  On September 22, the Maoist-affiliated Kirant 
Workers' Party bombed the office of a team studying the 
proposed Koshi River high dam.  The blast shattered the 
windowpanes of the ground floor, but noone was injured. 
On October 6, Maoists detonated a bomb inside the Gorhanna 
VDC office in Mahottari District.  The explosion caused 
minor damage to the office. 
 
MAOISTS CONTINUE EXTORTION AND LOOTING 
-------------------------------------- 
 
8.  People across the country have reported that Maoists 
increased and broadened their extortion demands during the 
ceasefire.  On the day the ceasefire was announced, 
insurgents looted NRs 200,000 (USD 2,788) from the Nuwakot 
District Development Committee (DDC); the money was slated 
for construction of a suspension bridge.  Days later, 
terrorists stole cash and valuables worth NRs 60,000 (USD 
836) from passengers on the road from Hetauda, Makwanpur 
District, to Narayanghat, Chitwan District.  On September 
22, militants stole 464 grams of gold and NRs 30,000 (USD 
418) from a shop in Nawalparasi District.  Two days later, 
rebels extorted NRs 500 (USD 7) each from the teachers of 
Beltar School in Makwanpur District, approximately 10 
percent of their salary.  On October 3, armed militants 
stole NRs 690,000 (USD 9,324) from two houses in Kathmandu 
Valley.  The next day, insurgents stopped two vehicles 
heading from Kathmandu to Kailali District in mid-western 
Nepal and took NRs 22,000 (USD 297).  On November 13, 
insurgents stole NRS 300,000 (USD 4,054) from a shop in 
Ramechhap District.