US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU311

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000311 
 
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 15-21 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  The Kathmandu press has reported that an informal 
meeting has been set for February 24 between Government of 
Nepal (GON) representatives and Maoist negotiators.  Krishna 
Bahadur Mahara and Dinnath Sharma, members of the Maoist 
negotiating team, reportedly are in the capital to meet with 
political party leaders.  Minister of Physical Planning and 
Works and government-appointed coordinator for the peace 
talks with the Maoists, Narayan Singh Pun, promised that a 
code of conduct would be finalized and made public in the 
near future.  Maoist leader Prachanda says he has ordered 
his comrades to stop extorting money.  Minister Pun said 
that those who had committed atrocities in dealing with 
Maoists and civilians would face war crime tribunals.  Two 
children were killed by Maoist gunfire.  The insurgents have 
continued their mass meetings and declared they are ready to 
take up arms again if peace talks fail.  Security forces 
arrested suspected Maoists during a mass meeting and 
confiscated their weapons.  Families of security personnel 
killed during the insurgency are decrying the lack of 
assistance promised by the GON.  End Summary. 
 
GON AND MAOISTS TO MEET INFORMALLY 
---------------------------------- 
 
2.  According to local press reports, Government of Nepal 
(GON) representatives and Maoist leaders will meet 
informally on February 24.  According to one of the 
facilitators, the parties will meet at an undisclosed 
location to discuss and finalize a code of conduct for the 
ceasefire.  Representatives from both sides, including 
Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Physical Planning and Works, 
and possibly Dr. Baburam Bhattari, the number two leader of 
the Maoists, reportedly will be present. 
 
3.  Krishna Pahadi, Chairperson of the Human Rights and 
Peace Society (HURPES), urged the parties to ensure 
successful dialogue, declaring that Nepal would be ridiculed 
by the international community if the talks failed again. 
Pradeep Gywali, Central Committee Member of the Communist 
Part of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), also warned 
of trouble if the peace talks failed again, saying that the 
country should be prepared for dire consequences. 
 
MAOISTS STEP UP MEETINGS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
4.  Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Dinnath Sharma, senior 
insurgent leaders and members of the Maoist negotiating 
team, met with Girija Prasad Koirala, President of the 
Nepali Congress (NC) on February 18.  During the meeting, 
Maoist leaders claimed that they are a pro-people party and 
committed to democracy.  They also denied that they had 
reached any secret agreements with King Gyanendra, and 
promised that all ceasefire developments would be made 
public. 
 
5.  Maoist negotiators also met with Narayan Man Bijukchhe, 
Chairman of the Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party (NWPP), 
during which Bijukchhe reportedly urged the Maoists to 
clarify their agenda and approach the peace talks 
responsibly. 
 
6.  Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of the Communist 
Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), also met 
with Mahara and Sharma.  Nepal told the local press that the 
Maoist negotiators requested help in creating an atmosphere 
for peace talks and that they were committed to solving the 
process through dialogue.  Mahara has previously expressed 
concern that the GON still has not announced its negotiating 
team and accused the GON of failing to create a conducive 
atmosphere for peace talks. 
 
MAOISTS ARRESTED 
---------------- 
 
7.  Nineteen Maoists, including Central Committee Member, 
Rabindra Shrestha, reportedly were rearrested shortly after 
being released from Central and Bhadra Jails in Kathmandu on 
February 19.  The prisoners then started chanting anti- 
government slogans, and Maoist leaders warned that the 
"irresponsible behavior" of the police could jeopardize the 
ceasefire. 
 
8.  On February 18, security forces conducted a search 
operation during a mass meeting organized by Maoists in 
Kanchanpur District in the Far Western Terai and reportedly 
arrested fifteen insurgents.  The security forces also 
confiscated khukuris, pistols, socket bombs and grenades. 
 
PUN PROMISES CODE OF CONDUCT SOON 
--------------------------------- 
 
9.  Narayan Singh Pun, the government-appointed coordinator 
of the peace talks, has promised a code of conduct for the 
ceasefire will be established soon.  Minister Pun and Maoist 
leaders reportedly are working together to finalize a draft, 
which will be made public upon its completion. 
 
WAR CRIME TRIBUNALS POSSIBLE 
---------------------------- 
 
10.  Narayan Singh Pun proclaimed that those who had 
committed atrocities in dealing with Maoists and civilians 
would face war crime tribunals when the peace process was 
completed.  Pun made the promise while speaking to family 
members of those who have disappeared during the insurgency. 
However, when asked what type of punishment the Maoists 
would face for their crimes, Pun would not answer. 
 
CONFLICTING STORIES SURROUND DEATH OF SIBLINGS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
11.  Two children, ages 7 and 12, were killed at a primary 
school in northwestern Baglung District.  There are 
conflicting accounts of how they died.  According to some 
witnesses, 200 insurgents arrived at the school to conduct 
training sessions in firing weapons.  A Maoist leader said 
the children were killed when the guns went off 
accidentally, due to the carelessness of the children. 
Another Maoist leader reportedly said the guns went off as a 
result of a faulty trigger.  However, other witnesses said 
the Maoists stormed into the school and began firing.  Local 
villagers said the killings were politically motivated. 
Maoists reportedly have apologized to the parents of the 
dead children. 
 
12.  According to press accounts, the insurgents executed 
one of their own unit commanders for allegedly raping a girl 
in Gorkha District.  The girl's family had given shelter to 
the commander. 
 
13.  Maoist cadres reportedly are looting cash and other 
valuables from residents in central Parbat District.  The 
insurgents have taken almost four thousand dollars from the 
villagers, claiming it as donations. 
 
PRACHANDA ORDERS HALT TO EXTORTION 
---------------------------------- 
 
14.  Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, has 
allegedly ordered his followers to stop extorting money, and 
to accept only voluntary donations. According to a statement 
issued by Prachanda, the order was issued so the "real" 
perpetrators of the extortion attempts could be exposed. 
Prachanda accused "foreign reactionaries" of false 
propaganda meant to disrupt the peace process and place 
false blame on the Maoists.  However, the Maoist leader also 
asserted that his party was committed to curbing any 
activity that might disturb the peace process. 
 
MASS MEETINGS CONTINUE 
---------------------- 
 
15.  Maoists continued to organize mass meetings and 
threatened to break the ceasefire if security personnel 
insist on intervening and arresting their cadres.  District 
level Maoist leaders, speaking at the meetings in eastern 
Dolakha District, also said that they would defy any deals 
secretly made with the palace.  Maoists also held a mass 
 
SIPDIS 
meeting in southern Bara District, declaring that they would 
quickly raise arms again if the peace talks failed.  Over 
500 people, including women and children, attended the 
meeting. 
 
16.  Chandra Budhamagar, Chief of the Maoist People's Joint 
Action Committee, said the GON had demonstrated a lack of 
seriousness about the peace talks and condemned the intense 
police activities in Baglung District, which allegedly 
include unnecessary searches, arrests and detentions. 
 
VICTIM'S FAMILIES CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT'S APATHY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
17.  Family members of security personnel killed during the 
insurgency are claiming that the GON has not fulfilled 
promises of assistance, including free education for the 
children of those killed.  The GON allegedly has been slow 
to deliver relief packages, and many of the victims' 
families are still being billed for tuition fees. 
 
MALINOWSKI