US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU967

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000967 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
PLEASE PASS TO USAID/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PTER, NP, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S MAOISTS STRIVING TO WIN HEARTS AND MINDS 
IN RURAL NORTHWEST 
 
REF: ACOMPANYING POWERPOINT PRESENTATION PROVIDED TO 
     THE DESK. 
 
Classified By: Charge d'affairs Robert K. Boggs for reasons 1.5 (b) and 
 (d). 
 
Summary 
======= 
 
1.  (C) From April 26 to May 4, Embassy and USAID 
representatives traveled to Nepal's northwest district of 
Dolpa.  Fifteen of the district's twenty-five villages are 
affected by Maoist activities, with six in the southwest 
highly affected.  Maoists in the district have begun some 
development work, in some cases applying to the Government 
for materials.  In the district's Tibetan-speaking north, 
Maoist outreach programs have been ineffective due to 
language and cultural barriers.  A May 3 Maoist political 
rally held in the district headquarters was approved by the 
district government, which also provided food for up to 300 
attendees.  Political parties' activities are limited to the 
district's headquarters.  They charge that the Maoists are 
violating the terms of the cease-fire and not allowing 
freedom of travel to others.  Should the cease-fire break, 
the government will have difficulty maintaining control of 
southern Dolpa without significant military reinforcement. 
End summary. 
 
Embassy and Aid Officers Visit Maoist-affected Dolpa 
============================================= ======== 
 
2.  (SBU) From April 26 to May 4, Embassy and USAID 
representatives traveled to Nepal's northwest district of 
Dolpa to evaluate USG development and environmental projects 
(septel) and the security situation.  The trip entailed 
travel by foot three days north and one day west of district 
headquarters Dunai and encompassed many of the areas 
afflicted by seven years of Maoist attacks in Dolpa.  The 
district is still recovering from two significant attacks. 
On April 2, 2002 the Maoists attacked Juphal Airport, closing 
it for six months, while a September 25, 2000 attack on Dunai 
killed 14 police and injured 24.  The closure of the airport 
suspended government imports of rice, reportedly causing food 
shortages. 
 
3.  (SBU) Since 1996, the Maoists have destroyed all the 
district's local government offices outside of Dunai; 16 of 
17 police posts (the airport's police post was restored one 
week before our arrival); 14 forestry offices (the one 
remaining field office is now abandoned); the Juphal Airport 
terminal; the jail; and a small Royal Nepal Army garrison. 
The Embassy and USAID group identified Maoist slogans painted 
on homes and prominent rock outcroppings on trails to the 
north and west of Dunai, while Maoist flags were also 
displayed in villages to the west of Dunai. 
 
Overview of Dolpa 
================== 
 
4.  (U) The district is home to an estimated 29,000 people 
and is roughly bisected by topography and ethnicity.  The 
mountainous north is inhabited by the Tibetan-speaking 
Dolpo-pa, while the south is dominated by Nepali-speaking 
Hindus.  The district has no motorable roads.  A four-day 
walk is required to reach the nearest roadhead southwest of 
the district headquarters.  The district has one airport, in 
the village of Juphal, a three-hour walk from the district 
headquarters.  The district is bordered by the Maoist 
strongholds of Rukum and Jajarkot to the south and 
increasingly Maoist-affected Jumla to the west. 
 
Security Forces' Reports of Maoist Activities in Dolpa 
============================================= ========== 
 
5.  (SBU) Government control in the district is strictly 
limited to the district headquarters in Dunai and the Juphal 
airport.  Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bachaspati 
Regmi stated that of the district's twenty-three villages, 
fifteen, mostly in the district's west, were affected by 
Maoists, with six in the southwest highly affected.  He 
reported that the Maoists allowed government health posts and 
schools to operate.  The DSP also stated that fifteen 
families had fled from southwestern Dolpa to the district 
headquarters, but because of the cease-fire are now willing 
to return home.  The police continue to patrol one day's 
distance east and west from Dunai.  The DSP reports that 
during these patrols they find little activity.  The police 
in Dolpa no longer hold any Maoists prisoner, as they have 
been unable to take prisoners into long-term custody after 
the jail was destroyed in the September 2000 attack.  The 
Maoist military wing is armed with Lee-Enfield .303 rifles 
(stolen from the police and army), muskets, and home-made 
socket bombs.  Royal Nepal Army (RNA) Company Commander Major 
Raji Pandey and his deputy, Captain Laba Thapa, reported that 
their company patrols one day north into the national park. 
The USG team found the Army's well-marked campsite in the 
park.  The position was located on two sides of a wooden 
bridge and surrounded by Maoist graffiti. 
 
Maoist Development Programs 
============================ 
 
6.  (SBU) According to Chief District Officer (CDO) G. P. 
Dhakal, Maoists in western parts of the district have 
undertaken the construction of trails and toilets and the 
rebuilding of a school.  The Maoist leadership has approached 
the CDO for materials to complete drinking water and bridge 
projects.  The CDO stated that he has refused these requests 
for now by reporting that neither he nor the Local 
Development Office have the materials available.  Members of 
the USG team witnessed a Maoist cadre leaving a 
non-governmental organization office (NGO) in Dunai.  The NGO 
staff later reported that the cadre had been seeking 
information on the project.  The Dutch development agency, 
SNV, is building a trail in southwestern Dolpa and reportedly 
has to coordinate with the Maoists in order to move the 
project forward. 
 
Dolpa's Maoists Ineffective with Dolpa's Tibetans 
============================================= ===== 
 
7.  (SBU) From September 27 to 30, the USG group traveled 
north into Dolpa's Shey-Phoksumdo National Park and regularly 
observed Maoist graffiti along the trail.  At the northern 
most point in the team's travel on the shore of Phoksumdo 
Lake, the ethnically Tibetan villagers reported that they had 
been approached by the Maoists.  However, the villagers said 
they did not trust these outsiders and had difficulty in 
understanding their Nepali. 
 
 
Maoist Political Rally 
======================= 
 
8.  (SBU) The USG team learned that the Maoists would be 
conducting a cultural program in the district headquarters on 
May 3.  (Note:  In an area where entertainment of any sort is 
rare, cultural exhibitions of dance and song draw a large 
crowd.  The Maoists have turned these events into rallies in 
order to deliver their political messages.  End note.)  The 
CDO and DSP reported that a Maoist representative had 
approached them for approval of the event.  The CDO and DSP 
stated that the program was within the cease-fire's code of 
conduct and that they had no objection to the event, as long 
as the Maoists came unarmed and out of uniform (also terms of 
the code of conduct).  When the representative requested that 
the CDO provide government rice for the program's estimated 
1,500 participants, the CDO said he responded that he would 
provide rice for no more than 300.  The CDO reported that the 
Maoist representative agreed to the terms.  The USG team was 
unable to learn the actual level of attendance. 
 
9.  (SBU) On May 2, members of the USG team trekked west of 
the district headquarters.  En route, one member witnessed 
forty Maoist cadres in transit to the next day's cultural 
program.  The Maoists were between the ages of fourteen and 
twenty-five, all of lower castes, well-dressed in western 
clothing, and well-fed.  Two exceptions were the upper-caste 
Maoist District Military Commander, who was in his 
mid-thirties, in uniform, and carrying a battery-powered 
bullhorn, and an upper-caste man in his early forties of 
unidentified rank.  Many of the group's members carried 
personal tape players and radios.  These items are considered 
luxuries in this rural area, requiring expensive imported 
tapes and batteries to operate.  As the USG team stopped in a 
village 5 kilometers to the west, a local hotelier relayed 
stories of a Maoist cultural program (cum political rally) 
that took place in neighboring Jumla district headquarters a 
week earlier. 
 
Maoists Restrict and Victimize Political Parties 
============================================= ==== 
 
10.  (SBU) The Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist 
Leninist (UML) and the Nepali Congress (NC) parties continue 
to have representatives in the district headquarters.  In 
past elections, the UML won 60-80 percent of the local polls, 
while the NC won no more than 5 percent at any time.  The UML 
District Secretary reported that of the more than 120 UML 
cadre killed nationwide by the Maoists during the conflict, 
one was in Dolpa.  The individual was tortured with a knife 
and killed in front of his family.  The UML Secretary charged 
that the Maoists are violating the code of conduct, 
continuing to extort money and food, and compelling 
attendance at Maoist meetings.  He also charged that the 
political parties are not allowed freedom of movement within 
the district, with the Maoists using robbery and beatings to 
enforce this internal travel ban.  On May 2, the USG team met 
the NC District Secretary on the trail, as he was fleeing 
from the Maoists in the district headquarters.  His departure 
was understandable.  Prior to the cease-fire, the NC 
Secretary had been held for two weeks by the Maoists and 
 
SIPDIS 
beaten. 
 
Comment 
======== 
 
11. (C) The Maoists in Dolpa are capitalizing on the lack of 
government presence in this remote district, due in large 
part to their campaign of violence there over the past seven 
years.  The cease-fire has allowed Maoist cadres to move 
throughout the district and the district headquarters 
unhindered by the security forces.  The Maoists' efforts 
appear to be aimed at restoring popular support, damaged 
after their attack on the airport and destruction of other 
government infrastructure.  The security forces have no plans 
or resources to reassert government control, and the 
political parties reported no plans to revitalize and 
mobilize support.  International NGOs have continued to 
operate in the district.  It appears, however, that their 
efforts are closely monitored by the Maoists. Should 
hostilities resume, the government presence in southern Dolpa 
will be hard-pressed to cling to its limited territory and 
will certainly be unable to carry forward any pacification 
programs without massive reinforcement. 
BOGGS