US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU795

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000795 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DS/IP/NEA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
STATE ALSO PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS HQ 
USAID FOR ANE/AA GORDON WEST AND JIM BEVER 
MANILA FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
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: PINS, PTER, CASC, PGOV, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NEPAL'S MAOIST INSURGENCY, APRIL 26-May 2 
 
REFERENCE:  (A)  KATHMANDU 0769 
 
            (B)  KATHMANDU 0140 
            (C)  KATHMANDU 0707 
(D)  KATHMANDU 0677 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  On April 27 negotiators representing the Government of 
Nepal (GON) and the Maoists held the first round of 
exploratory peace talks (Ref A).  Amnesty International (AI) 
published a report on April 23 claiming over a thousand 
Maoist cadres remain imprisoned.  A strike on April 29 
called by the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union- 
Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), the Maoist aligned militant 
student group, shut down the Kathmandu Valley.  Groups 
representing victims of the Maoist insurgency continue to 
pressure the GON to address their needs and implement 
rehabilitation programs.  The family of Krishna Mohan 
Shrestha, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force (APF), 
who was murdered along with his wife and bodyguard (Ref B), 
has also criticized the GON for releasing the accused 
killers. 
 
FIRST ROUND OF TALKS BRINGS OPTIMISM 
------------------------------------ 
 
2.  On April 27 negotiators for the GON and Maoists held 
their first round of peace talks in which the Maoists 
presented their agenda of twenty-four demands (Ref A). 
Narayan Singh Pun, Minister of Physical Planning and Works 
and government negotiator, speaking to reporters after the 
talks, said the GON would introduce its agenda in phases. 
The local press reported that both sides termed the talks 
"positive," and Minister Pun said he was "fully optimistic" 
about the success of the peace talks.  Local academics have 
expressed confidence that the talks will succeed, and 
stressed the importance of making lasting peace the top 
priority of the talks.  No date has been set for the next 
round of dialogue. 
 
BHATTARAI SAYS MAOISTS WILL RETURN TO VIOLENCE 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
3.  Baburam Bhattarai, head of the Maoist negotiating team, 
addressed a public rally on May 1 and warned of violent 
consequences if the GON does not take the Maoist agenda 
seriously.  Bhattarai threatened a repeat of the Dang and 
Syangja attacks, and promised the crowd of Maoist workers 
that his party was ready to take any measures necessary 
against the GON.  (Note:  After the Maoists abruptly walked 
out of the third round of failed peace talks in 2001, they 
launched brutal attacks simultaneously on November 23 
against army barracks in Dang District, killing fourteen 
soldiers, and on a police post in Syangja District, which 
killed thirty-seven policemen.  End Note.) 
 
AI REPORT REFUTED 
----------------- 
 
4.  A report published on April 23 by Amnesty International 
(AI) estimates that over one thousand suspected Maoist 
cadres remain imprisoned.  The report, however, fails to 
mention the source of the statistics.  Brigadier General 
B.A. Sharma, head of the Royal Nepal Army's (RNA) Human 
Rights Investigation Cell, speaking at a press conference on 
April 23, denied the army was holding any Maoist prisoners. 
Sharma said the army had released all Maoists in custody 
after the cease-fire was announced.  The GON continues to 
release Maoist cadres continually, as part of the ceasefire 
agreement, including two of the top Maoist Central Committee 
Members (Ref C).  The AI report acknowledges that the 
gradual release of prisoners, as peace talks progress, is 
part of the agreed upon code of conduct. 
 
5.  Thirty-four more Maoist detainees, including five 
females, were released this week from jails throughout 
Nepal. 
 
MAOIST STUDENTS REFUSE TO CALL OFF STRIKE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
6.  The All Nepal National Independent Students' Union- 
Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), the Maoist aligned student group, 
refused to withdraw its call for a nation-wide strike on 
April 29.  The Maoist student wing was the only student 
union out of eight that refused to cancel the second day of 
strikes (Ref D) this week.  Instead, members of the ANNISU-R 
reportedly went on a rampage that included arson, stone 
throwing, damaging buildings, and destroying over thirty 
vehicles.  The strike, which disrupted activity across the 
Kathmandu Valley, prevented many youths from taking final 
exams, shut down most businesses, and halted public 
transportation.  Devendra Parajuli, President of ANNISU-R, 
told reporters that the strikes were necessary and would 
continue until their imprisoned cadres were released and 
those responsible for killing and beheading two students a 
week ago were arrested.  Parajuli has accused the GON of 
ordering the killings of the students.  Police Headquarters 
announced on April 29 that a special investigating team had 
been formed to probe the murders. 
 
VICTIMS SEARCH FOR ANSWERS 
-------------------------- 
 
7.  As the first round of peace talks began, victims of the 
insurgency are questioning the GON's commitment to 
rehabilitation efforts.  Groups representing victims of the 
Maoist insurgency gathered in Kathmandu on April 26 to 
demand representation at the peace talks and in government, 
and rehabilitation assistance.  The victims' groups claim 
that the GON has failed to implement promised programs, 
halted financial assistance, and failed to deliver 
scholarship packages to orphans.  Others gathered in search 
of justice and to pressure authorities to search for missing 
relatives such as those recently abducted by Maoists in 
Fungling District.  The families alleged to the local press 
that the police are not interested in helping despite the 
insurgents' admission that they are responsible for the 
kidnappings.  Maoists reportedly have abducted five other 
people, including a teacher, from the eastern district of 
Therathum on April 28.  All five remain missing. 
 
8.  The family of Krishna Mohan Shrestha, Inspector General 
of the Armed Police Force (APF), who was murdered along with 
his wife and bodyguard (Ref B), are also questioning whether 
or not his killers will be brought to justice.  The GON 
recently released those accused of the murders after failing 
to file a case against them within the required time frame. 
Shrestha's mother told reporters that the GON's disregard 
for the case against her son's killers has hurt her deeply. 
A local paper also quoted a senior official of the Armed 
Police Force saying the APF strongly condemns the GON's 
inactions as demoralizing and de-motivating.  The GON has 
offered no official explanation for the release, although it 
appears to be politically motivated. 
 
INSURGENCY DAMAGES AGRICULTURE 
------------------------------ 
 
9.  Figures released in April from research conducted by the 
Centre For Economic and Social Development over a six-month 
period show that the insurgency took a heavy toll on Nepal's 
farmers.  The center reported that almost half a million 
farmers were displaced, with the highest number in the mid- 
western region.  Up to fifty percent of the farmers were 
forced to leave their land because their lives reportedly 
were threatened, and one third of them left to avoid 
extortion attempts by the insurgents.  The migration of the 
farmers has had a negative impact on the agricultural 
industry, causing over two hundred small-scale industries to 
close down. 
 
MALINOWSKI