US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU50

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND PA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
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: DECL: 01/08/2013 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOISTS KIDNAP CHILDREN FOR MILITARY 
TRAINING 
 
REF: 02 KATHMANDU 2307 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert K. Boggs, for reasons b,d 
. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary and Action Request:  Several GON sources 
confirmed to the Embassy on January 8 that more than 200 
students from four districts in Nepal's far-western region 
have been abducted from their schools by Maoist insurgents 
over the past two weeks.  Some of the children have been 
returned to their homes on the condition that they be readily 
available to join the Maoists if needed, and security sources 
speculate that some of the children may have been given 
military training by their captors before being released. 
Suggested press guidance on this issue follows in para 6. 
Action request for USUN is in para 7. End summary. 
 
2. (C) The National Intelligence Directorate (NID) confirmed 
to the Embassy on January 8 that 162 students were abducted 
from various schools in western Bajura and Kailali districts 
over the past two weeks. The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) reported 
an additional 50 students kidnapped in neighboring Doti 
district, and an ex-MP from Gulmi district related reports of 
seventeen students abducted in his former constituency over 
the same timeframe.  The NID stated that all of the kidnapped 
students were in grades 8, 9 and 10, and according to RNA 
sources, the students either were abducted directly from 
their classes or picked up while on their way to school. 
 
3. (C) According to news reports about the incidents, 
confirmed by the NID, many of the kidnapped students have 
been returned to their families after brief periods of 
captivity.  Security sources speculate that the children may 
have been given some military instruction by their captors in 
preparation for active duty with the insurgents, a suspicion 
supported by GON intelligence reports stating that the 
children were released on the condition that they be readily 
available to re-join the Maoists if needed.  Students and 
local residents who spoke to the media on condition of 
anonymity stated that the children were exposed to a 
"political training program" before being released, and were 
threatened with physical violence and torture if they 
revealed the location of the Maoist camp or the purpose of 
the "meeting." 
 
4. (SBU) Officials at the District Headquarters of Doti and 
Kailali could not confirm or deny the reports, responding to 
Embassy queries by saying that they had "no official 
information" about the kidnappings.  However, when pressed to 
answer "unofficially," officers in both districts stated that 
they were aware that a number of children had been kidnapped, 
but could not confirm how many were still in Maoist custody. 
Citing numbers considerably higher than official reports, the 
acting Chief District Officer in Doti suggested that the 
number of children abducted in his district could be as high 
as 250. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment:  Post agrees with speculation by the 
security forces that the current abductions are for the 
purpose of indoctrination and training, and the incidents, 
combined with prior reports that Maoists have forced families 
to pay a bounty or give up one child to their forces (ref), 
are further evidence of the moral hypocrisy and bankruptcy of 
Nepal's so-called "people's war."  Maoists in Nepal's western 
districts have forced a number of schools to close until the 
militants can provide revolutionary teaching materials.  In 
the continuing absence of revised curricula, the Maoists 
appear to be resorting to forced indoctrination.  The 
kidnapping may be a response also to the reported 
difficulties the Maoists are encountering in recruitment, as 
increasing numbers of young people flee Maoist-infested 
areas. 
 
6. (U) FIRST ACTION REQUEST:  Post suggests that PA consider 
releasing a statement condemning the abduction and forced 
conscription of minors by the Maoists.  Suggested press 
guidance follows: 
 
(Begin text) 
Recent reports indicate that Maoist insurgents have abducted 
more than 150 children from their schools in western Nepal 
over the past two weeks, apparently in an effort to conscript 
the students into their ranks.  The United States condemns in 
the strongest possible terms the abduction and forced 
conscription of children for use in an armed conflict, and 
calls on the Maoists to cease this inhumane activity. 
 
(End text) 
 
7. (U) SECOND ACTION REQUEST:  The use of child soldiers by 
Nepal's insurgents has been cited in the Third Report of the 
Secretary-General of the United Nations on the Use of 
 
SIPDIS 
Children in Armed Conflict as a "situation of concern."  Post 
urges US representatives to speak out strongly against the 
continued forced recruitment of minors by Nepal's Maoists 
when the report is reviewed by the Security Council. 
MALINOWSKI