US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU288

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 KATHMANDU 000288 
 
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, IN, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, FEB 8-14 
 
REFERENCE:  (A) 01 KATHMANDU 2274 
 
            (B) KATHMANDU 0140 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  No date has been set yet for the start of a formal peace 
dialogue.  Several international organizations are offering 
help in mediating the process.  Maoist leader Prachanda has 
warned that if the peace talks fail, Nepal would suffer a 
major catastrophe, while the student wing of the Maoists has 
threatened more high-profile killings and mass murder if the 
Government of Nepal is not serious about the ceasefire. 
Nepal's political parties have demanded that the details of 
the ongoing peace talks be made public and include all 
parties.  Amnesty International (AI), the National Human 
Rights Commission (NHRC), and local non-governmental 
organizations want human rights to be a priority of the 
peace talks, while victims of the insurgency, women's and 
children's groups, and Dalits all demand representation at 
the peace talks as well.  NHRC has prepared a draft code of 
conduct to be followed during the ceasefire and is awaiting 
responses from the Maoists and GON. 
 
2.  Summary continued.  Three journalists were released from 
detention on orders of the Supreme Court.  Imprisoned 
Maoists awaiting release staged protest demonstrations 
against the GON.  Security forces arrested suspected Maoists 
in Doti, Kailali and Nawalparasi districts.  Maoists remain 
armed and reportedly are holding mass meetings and 
conducting combat training.  The Maoists reportedly are also 
smuggling in weapons and ammunition from India.  The 
insurgents continue to extort money from civilians and have 
abducted two brothers from their village.  The dead body of 
a man abducted by the Maoists was discovered earlier this 
week.  Children's rights activists have demanded that the 
Maoists release all abducted children before proceeding with 
peace talks, and that the GON implement plans to 
rehabilitate children affected by the insurgency.  End 
Summary 
 
SLOW MOVEMENT TOWARD PEACE TALKS, 
INTERNATIONAL HELP OFFERED 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.  No date has been set for peace talks between the 
Government of Nepal (GON) and Maoist insurgents.  Prime 
Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand said the GON sent a letter 
to the Maoists proposing the monarch as focal point of the 
peace talks and was awaiting their response.  Chand said 
that although the GON had conceded to several other demands 
by the Maoists, it had turned down a request to revoke the 
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act.  Chand also denied 
accusations by political parties that the ceasefire was put 
together hastily and was intended to exclude the parties. 
 
4.  The Nepal branch of Amnesty International has requested 
that the GON seek international help to monitor the peace 
talks.  According to one of the human rights activists 
present at a meeting with Prime Minister Chand, the Prime 
Minister reacted positively to the idea, calling it a good 
suggestion.  Several other international organizations have 
offered to help with mediation, including the International 
Red Cross and the United Nations, as well as the Government 
of Norway. 
 
5.  The high-profile Carter Center reportedly is ready to 
assist with the peace talks, if both sides are receptive.  A 
local NGO is preparing to invite the former President to 
attend a conference, for members of civil society, about the 
peace process.  The event will be held in Kathmandu. 
 
WARNINGS AND THREATS IF PEACE TALKS FAIL 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.  Pushpa Kamal Dahal (AKA Prachanda), leader of the 
Maoists, warned that if peace talks fail this time, Nepal 
would suffer a " major catastrophe," which some have 
interpreted to mean unprecedented bloodshed.  According to 
press reports, Prachanda said that the Maoists are committed 
to the ceasefire, and warned political parties not to repeat 
past mistakes of infighting and indifference.  In a 
statement released on February 13, the anniversary of the so- 
called "People's War," Prachanda declared the ceasefire a 
"strategic balancing act" and a "continuation of the war by 
other means." 
 
7.  Prachanda warned against any conspiracies, hatched by 
the "outgoing regime and the imperialist and expansionist 
forces," declaring that his army was ready to go back to the 
jungle with "guns in hand."  The Maoists have said that in 
order for peace talks to succeed, all parties involved must 
be serious about and committed to the peace process; the 
Government of Nepal (GON) needs to make public the names and 
whereabouts of imprisoned or missing suspected Maoists; the 
army must suspend all operations and return to its barracks, 
and a code of conduct must be established. 
 
8.  The All-Nepal National Independent Students Union-- 
Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) has threatened the GON with 
unprecedented violence if it is not serious about the 
ceasefire.  Dipendra Panta, chairman of ANNISU-R, speaking 
at a mass meeting commemorating the anniversary of the 
People's War, warned that the brutal attacks in Dang and 
Syangja (Ref A) could be repeated in other places at any 
time.  The militants also made reference to the vicious 
murders of Krishna Mohan Shrestha, Chief of the Armed Police 
Force (Ref B), threatening that new tactics targeting high 
officials could be implemented, and the ceasefire could turn 
into the "drama before mass murder." 
 
POLITICAL PARTIES REACT TO CEASEFIRE 
------------------------------------ 
 
9.  Amik Sherchan, leader of the People's Front Nepal (PFN), 
told the press that Maoist leader Prachanda met with a 
special emissary of the King before the ceasefire was 
announced.  Sherchan claimed that Prachanda told him of the 
meeting and that the Maoists agreed to the ceasefire as 
proposed by the emissary.  Sherchan stressed the need to 
have all political parties involved in the peace process, 
saying that only a "united movement" can solve current 
national problems. 
 
10.  Jog Mehar, a central member of the Rastriya Prajatantra 
Party (RPP), warned that the Maoists might use the ceasefire 
to regroup.  Mehar reiterated that a code of conduct must be 
established for the duration of the ceasefire and peace 
talks.  Mehar, speaking at the Reporter's Club, also 
ridiculed the idea of an all-party round table conference, 
one of the Maoists' main demands. 
 
11.  Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of the Communist 
Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) said that 
the GON should not rush into peace talks.  Nepal admitted 
talking to Maoist leader Prachanda by phone, but denied any 
secret agreements between the two.  Nepal, speaking at a 
 
SIPDIS 
press conference, said both sides should do their homework 
before sitting at the negotiating table or the talks would 
fail again.  Nepal said that the agenda must be defined 
clearly and also asked the GON to rehabilitate those who had 
been displaced by the insurgency.  Nepal also demanded that 
the details of the peace talks be made public, citing 
concern that political parties are not being consulted.  In 
addition to the CPN-UML, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party 
(RPP), Nepali Congress (Democratic), and Nepal Sadbhavana 
Party (NSP) also have insisted that the details of the peace 
dialogue be made public. The parties said the confusing and 
uncertain atmosphere surrounding the talks must end. 
 
12.  Narayan Man Bijukchhe, President of Nepal Workers and 
Peasants' Party (NWPP), criticized the GON for accepting too 
many of the demands made by the Maoists.  Bijukchhe called 
it humiliating and said the GON was conceding too much too 
soon.  He lambasted the Maoists' demands for space and time 
in the media, and their call for military withdrawal. 
Bijukchhe expressed doubts over the GON's ability to bring 
the Maoists to the negotiating table. 
 
13.  The United Kingdom and Switzerland have both pledged 
continued support to Nepal and called on the GON and all 
parties involved in the ceasefire to agree on a common 
vision for Nepal to make the ceasefire permanent.  Keith 
Bloomfield, the British Ambassador to Nepal, pledged 
continued support to Nepal, including strengthening of 
security forces, while Walter Fust, the Director General of 
the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), in a 
recent visit to Nepal, said the Swiss too would continue 
their aid programs in Nepal. 
 
MAOISTS HOLD MEETINGS, TAKE UP ARMS 
----------------------------------- 
 
14.  In Khotang District, armed insurgents have been holding 
mass meetings that students, teachers and local villagers 
are being forced to attend.  According to the villagers, the 
Maoists expressed anger about the GON's failure so far to 
announce a negotiating team, and said that if the GON failed 
to meet the Maoists' conditions, there would be no other 
option than to take up arms again.  The insurgents 
reportedly have launched combat training exercises in the 
district, with as many as 5,000 people participating. 
 
15.  A CPN-UML activist in Nepalgunj District has reported 
that Maoists have stepped up extortion campaigns throughout 
the district.  They also have taken up arms and are 
conducting mass meetings, proclaiming that the insurgents 
have won the struggle with the GON.  There are also reports 
from the district that the Maoists are bringing in 
ammunition and weapons from India. 
 
16.  Journalists from the local press visited Jumla 
District, one of the areas hardest hit by the Maoist 
insurgency, and reported that the militants are still armed 
and ready to fight again should the peace talks fail.  Over 
one hundred insurgents carrying weapons were observed, many 
of whom were children.  Insurgents in the area were quoted 
as saying that if the government tried to trick the Maoists, 
they would re-launch their violent campaign and it would be 
more severe than last time. 
 
SECURITY FORCES ARREST MAOISTS 
------------------------------ 
 
17.  Security forces reportedly arrested three Maoists, 
including the regional leader, in Nawalparasi District on 
February 8. Area police denied any knowledge of the arrests. 
Maoists have been organizing daily public meetings 
throughout the district. 
 
18.  In Doti District, three Maoists also were arrested by 
security forces after they were seen carrying arms and 
explosives.  Security forces also arrested twelve Maoists 
returning from a mass gathering in Kailali District who were 
openly walking with guns. 
 
PRIORITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND REPRESENTATION 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
19.  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is awaiting 
responses from the GON and the Maoists to its proposed code 
of conduct for the ceasefire.  The six-point draft, which 
was sent to both the GON and Maoist leader Prachanda, calls 
for an immediate stop to nationwide extortion, kidnapping 
and violence perpetrated by the Maoists.  The draft also 
asks the GON to order the army back to its barracks and 
revoke the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act.  The 
NHRC has also advised both sides to form groups to monitor 
and observe adherence to the code of conduct. 
 
20.  Amnesty International (AI) demanded that human rights 
be given top priority in the upcoming peace talks.  In its 
recent meeting of the Nepal branch, AI requested that the 
GON and the Maoists stop all abductions, killings, torture, 
curfews and search and destroy missions. AI also called for 
the implementation of a program to rehabilitate children 
used as soldiers in the Maoist insurgency, and called for 
the release of all people arrested under the Terrorist and 
Destructive Control Act. 
 
21.  Human rights organizations in Nepal are urging the 
United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to appoint a 
special investigator for Nepal to investigate cases of human 
rights violations during the period from February 1996 to 
January 2003.  The groups want representation for women, 
children, and indigenous people in the peace talks, and have 
appealed to the Maoists to stop extorting funds, kidnapping 
people, disrupting education, and to release all child 
soldiers.  According to a report compiled by local non- 
governmental organizations, children comprise thirty percent 
of the Maoists' fighting force. 
 
22.  Child Rights Watch-Nepal (CRW-N), a newly formed 
organization comprised of local children's rights groups, 
has demanded that the peace talks focus on rehabilitating 
children affected by the insurgency.  In its annual report, 
Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) said thousands of children had 
been orphaned and displaced as a result of the insurgency. 
CRW-N is insisting that the GON makes issues facing these 
children a priority of the peace talks. 
 
23.  In addition, the human rights groups want the GON and 
Maoists to make public the names of missing civilians. 
According to a report prepared by the organizations, twenty- 
eight people have disappeared from the mid-western district 
of Rukum and are presumed dead.  The groups are calling for 
compensation to the families and investigations into the 
disappearances. 
 
24.  In a report released on February 13, the National Dalit 
Commission claims that the violence, murder, arrests and 
disappearances that have occurred during the Maoist 
insurgency have largely affected the Dalit (low caste) 
community.  The report says that almost 200 members of the 
Dalit community have been killed in the Maoist affected 
districts of Dang, Bardiya, Kailali and Jumla by security 
forces and thirty-two others were killed by Maoists.  The 
commission wants representation in the peace talks, accusing 
the GON and the Maoists of sidelining their concerns, and 
have warned of grave consequences if they are not included 
in the peace talks. 
 
25.  Victims of the Maoist insurgency are also demanding 
that attention be given to their plight.  K. P. Adhikare, 
Chairman of the Society For Victims of Terror, said that the 
victims of the insurgency are the ones who have lost the 
most and deserve to be represented in the talks.  Many of 
the victims and their families are still awaiting 
compensation from the GON, which they claim has never been 
distributed. 
 
IMPRISONED MAOISTS WAIT FOR RELEASE, PROTEST AGAINST GON 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
26.  The Home Ministry has said it would not immediately 
release imprisoned Maoists.  According to press reports, 
Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand had previously 
reassured Narayan Singh Pun, Minister of Physical Planning 
and Works and government-appointed peace talks coordinator, 
that he would order the release of all detained Maoists. 
Pun reportedly has been under pressure to ask the King to 
grant a general amnesty to all imprisoned insurgents, as a 
precondition for peace talks. 
 
27.  On February 12, Minister Pun was called to the Central 
Jail in Kathmandu, when prisoners began demonstrating 
against the GON, shouting anti-government slogans and 
demanding their release.  Prisoner Rabindra Shrestha, a 
central member of the Maoist party, said that the ceasefire 
would be called off if their demands were not met, and 
threatened the GON with a strike within the prison if the 
Maoists were not set free.  Pun told the prisoners that he 
would take the matter up with the Prime Minister and the 
Home Minister. 
 
28.  Prisoners in Nakkhua Jail also demonstrated against the 
GON on February 10, accusing it of not being serious about 
peace talks and ignoring the demands of the Maoists.  The 
protests began after attempts were made to re-arrest a 
prisoner shortly after the District Administration Office 
ordered his release.  Minister Pun was called to the prison 
and was handed a letter by the prisoners demanding the 
release of all imprisoned Maoists before peace talks can 
begin. 
 
29.  The local press has reported that some prisoners have 
been released, but are refusing to leave jail for fear of 
being re-arrested.  As many as eleven prisoners were given 
release orders from the Central Jail in Kathmandu, but 
refused to leave.  The prisoners are demanding that human 
rights representatives be present at their release.  Maoists 
are warning that the prison issues could disrupt the 
ceasefire. 
 
30.  According to the Siraha District Administration Office, 
fifteen suspected Maoists were released from jail in Siraha 
District on February 11.  Thirty-one people still remain in 
jail on suspicion of being Maoists.  In Banke District seven 
Maoist activists were released on February 12. 
 
JOURNALISTS RELEASED FROM PRISON 
-------------------------------- 
 
31.  Following orders from the Supreme Court, the GON 
released three journalists from the Central Jail in 
Kathmandu.  Two of the journalists worked for Janadisha, a 
pro-Maoist newspaper.  The journalists were arrested under 
the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, after the 
imposition of the State of Emergency in November 2001.  The 
Federation of Nepalese Journalists praised the release and 
demanded that the remaining detained journalists be released 
as well. 
 
32.  According to the Centre For Human Rights and Democratic 
Studies, there are at least fifteen journalists who remain 
in jail on charges of being sympathetic to the Maoists. 
Gopendra Pandey, Home Ministry spokesman, said there was no 
time frame for when the rest of the journalists would be 
freed.  Media organizations have called the arrests of 
journalists an indication of the deterioration of press 
freedom in Nepal. 
 
CEASEFIRE DOESN'T STOP EXTORTION AND KIDNAPPING 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
33.  There are reports from Ilam, Dang, Baglung and Sindhuli 
Districts of increased extortion efforts by the Maoists. 
Police arrested four Maoists in southwestern Dang District 
on charges of extorting money from villagers.  Police 
recovered cash and donation receipts from the insurgents. 
Local press from eastern Ilam District and Sindhuli District 
also report that Maoists are going house-to-house, extorting 
money from everyone.  The insurgents reportedly claim that 
all their activities are to continue as normal, despite the 
ceasefire.  In northwestern Baglung District, the insurgents 
are demanding food, grain and cash from villagers. 
 
34.  In western Surkhet District, Maoists reportedly have 
abducted two brothers, whose whereabouts remain unknown. 
The insurgents have also stepped up their demands for 
donations from businessmen and teachers. 
 
35.  The body of a man abducted from Dang District almost a 
month ago by Maoists was discovered on February 11. Maoists 
sent a letter to the man's father on February 7, declaring 
that his son was killed for being an informant for security 
forces. 
 
MALINOWSKI