US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU2443

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002443 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
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: PHUM, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  UPDATE ON MAOIST ACTIVITIES, DEC 14-DEC 20 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1.  On December 18 the European Union issued a statement 
calling for the Government of Nepal (GON) and Maoist 
insurgents to move ahead toward negotiations.  A December 19 
report by Amnesty International found human rights abuses in 
Nepal at an unprecedented high.  UN Secretary General Kofi 
Annan's report to the UN Security Council, to be released in 
full on December 23, implicates the Maoists in their 
recruitment of children as combatants. A committee of NGO 
activists claimed progress in bringing the GON and Maoists 
to the negotiating table.  However, schools remained closed 
for the second week of an indefinite Maoist educational 
strike.  Maoist violence continued with the murder of two 
innocent civilians, the killings of eleven policemen, and 
the abduction of four children.  Maoists also destroyed 13 
District Forest Offices. 
 
EU CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE 
------------------------ 
 
2.  On December 18 the European Union (EU) issued a 
statement strongly condemning the ongoing insurgency and 
calling on the Maoists to stop its campaign of killings, 
destruction and harassment, citing concerns over violations 
of human rights and international law.  The EU statement 
called for an immediate ceasefire and asked the government 
and the Maoists to enter into negotiations.  The statement 
also expressed support for the work of The National Human 
Rights Commission, emphasizing the need to implement the 
recommendations in the commission's future report, and 
decried evidence of human rights violations committed by the 
security forces. 
 
UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN NEPAL 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
3.  In a December 19 report entitled "Nepal-A Deepening 
Human Rights Crisis: Time For International Action," Amnesty 
International(AI) declared that human rights abuses have 
reached an unprecedented high.  AI called on the 
international community to address the deepening human 
rights crisis in Nepal and provide assistance to the 
government, to include the establishment of an office of the 
High Commissioner For Human Rights (OICHR).  The AI report 
cites evidence of abuses committed by both the Maoists and 
the security forces. 
 
MAOIST USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS 
----------------------------- 
 
4.  A preview released on December 16 of a report submitted 
by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the UN Security 
Council implicates the Maoists in the recruitment of 
children for use as combatants.  Annan's report, which will 
be released in full on December 23, includes Nepal in a list 
of countries violating internationally accepted standards, 
which prohibit the recruitment of children under the age of 
fifteen. 
 
SCHOOL STRIKE CONTINUES 
------------------------ 
 
5. The student wing of the underground Maoist party, All 
Nepal National Independent Students' Union (Revolutionary), 
ANNISU-R, has warned that it would resort to a nationwide 
shutdown of academic institutions if the government 
continued with its "irresponsible attitude."  All the 
schools and colleges in the Kathmandu valley remain closed 
indefinitely following the strike, or "bandh," called by the 
pro-Maoist student body on December 9, 2002.  Maoist threats 
to kidnap students from school, as well as physical attacks 
on teachers in some schools, are inhibiting attendance at 
schools in various parts of the country.  Armed insurgents 
recently entered several schools in western Kailali district 
and assaulted teachers in their classrooms.  ANNISU-R warned 
that it would take "bolder steps and actions" if its 
demands, including that the government lift its terrorist 
designation of the group, were not met immediately.  Home 
Minister Dharma Bahadur Thapa, however, has reaffirmed that 
the terrorist label will stay. 
 
6.  Padma Ratna Tuladhar, an NGO activist with links to the 
Maoists, claimed his recent discussions with the Maoist- 
affiliated student union included "positive steps towards a 
solution of the problem."  Tuladhar is a member of a three- 
man committee that hopes to facilitate talks between the 
government and the pro-Maoist student union.  Tuladhar 
predicted the committee "will come up with something 
concrete" after December 25. 
 
 
UNICEF URGES END TO EDUCATION STALEMATE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7.  Suomi Sakai, UNICEF Representative to Nepal, on December 
16, expressed concern over the education crisis in Nepal and 
called on all parties to stop using education for political 
reasons.  Sakai said that the educational strike only 
disadvantages Nepali children, declaring, "School education 
is a basic right and must be declared a zone of peace." 
 
8.  A number of children's rights organizations have voiced 
their concern over the effects that the Maoist insurgency, 
particularly the closure of schools, has on children.  The 
National Human Rights Commission called on the government to 
create an environment that safeguards the right to education 
and said the ANNFSU-R should act responsibly by not 
infringing on the right to education.  The Commission said 
it is ready to play any necessary role to end the disruption 
of education in Nepal. 
 
MAOISTS ATTACK POLICE AND CIVILIANS 
----------------------------------- 
 
9.  In separate incidents, Maoists shot and killed eleven 
policemen.  On December 19 six policemen were killed and 
seven were injured in a Maoist attack on the Koilabas Border 
Police Post in southern Dang, near the border of Nepal and 
India.  According to the local superintendent of police, 
over four hundred rebels attacked the post.  The insurgents 
also made off with rifles and guns taken from the police 
post. 
 
10.  On December 16, Maoists shot and killed a policeman at 
Ramthan in Kapilvastu district.  The rebels fled into a 
nearby jungle after the shooting and security forces 
launched a manhunt for the suspects.  In another incident, a 
group of Maoist rebels hacked a policeman to death on 
December 18, in southwestern Banke District. Two other 
policemen were also killed on December 18 at Surkhet Airport 
in the mid-western part of the country and Taplejung in the 
east.  Both were shot and killed by Maoists while on duty. 
The head constable of the Kailali district was shot and 
killed December 18th in his home by Maoist rebels. 
 
11.  According to security forces, Maoist terrorists 
abducted four children from the western district of Doti and 
killed two brothers from Siddhar VDC in western district of 
Arghakhanchi.  Tarapati Pokhrel and his brother, Tej Prasad 
Pokhrel, had been held captive since their abduction 
November 16th.  Maoists called the killings a "public 
action" and claimed the brothers supported the security 
forces. 
 
MAOIST ACTIVITY FORCES EXODUS OF THOUSANDS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
12.  According to local press reports "thousands" of people 
have fled their homes in fear of forced recruitment by the 
Maoists.  The exodus occurred after rumors circulated that 
the rebels were about to attack one of the district 
headquarters in the western Karnali zone.  Maoists have 
reportedly threatened to forcibly recruit the villagers or 
use them as human shields.  Thousands of villagers from the 
mid-western town of Nepalgunj have also left, heading to 
India to escape the rebels, violence and unemployment. 
Officials at the border police post at Nepalganj recorded 
more than 8,000 people passing through during the week of 
December 4-11, the highest weekly figure ever recorded. 
Over 60,000 Nepalis have left their districts in the mid and 
far western regions of Nepal, leaving some villages entirely 
deserted. 
 
MAOISTS DESTROY 13 DISTRICT FOREST OFFICES 
------------------------------------------ 
 
13.  Maoist rebels destroyed 13 district forest offices 
(DFO).  According to Kamal Bhakta Shrestha, regional 
director of the Regional Forest Office (RFO), the DFOs in 
Illam, Okhaldhunga, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Solukhumbu, 
Khotang, Udayapur, Jhapa, Terhathum, Morang, Sunsari, Siraha 
and Taplejung have all been destroyed by the Maoists.  Three 
additional offices, in Mahle, Tellok and Sinam of Taplejung 
district have also fallen into the Maoist control.  A total 
of 32 range posts in the eastern development region have 
been destroyed, causing 130,000 dollars in damages. 
 
14.  Maoists have also caused 40,000 dollars in damages at 
the Modikhkola Hydropower Centre in Parbat District. 
Maoists have targeted the center twice before, including 
setting off a bomb, which destroyed windows, computers and 
furniture. 
 
COMMITMENTS, DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH WANING 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
15.  Escalating violence and political instability in Nepal 
are affecting financial and economic commitments to help 
Nepal.  Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Nepal has 
been declining in the past few months.  While the US remains 
the largest bilateral donor, other donors have cited concern 
over the intensifying political turmoil and the weak 
implementation of development programs. According to the 
District Development Committee, Kanchanpur, out of 41 
planned development projects, only 12 have been completed. 
The GON has blamed its inability to complete the projects 
within the specified time on Maoist activity at the proposed 
development sites. 
 
16.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also pointed out 
that the number of projects funded by their agency has been 
cut by 50 percent because of the uncertainty of the 
political situation and the escalation of the insurgency. 
Destruction of facilities and infrastructure have adversely 
affected the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 
particularly in the key areas of tourism and trade, which 
declined 0.6 percent in the fiscal year 2001-2002. 
 
MALINOWSKI