#210 20 - 26 August 2004 20 pages Rs 25 OUTRAGE The Maoists have There has been embarked on a risky outrage at the recent Maoist end game by murder of journalist Dekendra Thapa threatening (r). The rebels have threatened to kill Kathmandus lifeline 10 other reporters Jugular in the midwest. See p6. Weekly Internet Poll # 150 Q. Should the Maoists give up violence and join mainstream politics? Total votes:1,121 Weekly Internet Poll # 151. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q. Does the Miss Nepal contest degrade women? Kathmandu Valley’s only highway to the plains showed signs of increased traffic on Thursday, but the number of vehicles both ways was still one-fourth of normal levels. KIRAN PANDAY KUNDA DIXIT traffic. peace secretariat, a multi-party on their ideas. The army is Putting the pressure on democratic coordination happy with this sort of vague- xactly one year after the Kathmandu is a way for the committee. The working ness. Senior brass told us they E collapse of the last Maoists to assert their pres- committee is to be formed by have no intention to go for a ceasefire, the Maoists are ence after their central com- the high-level peace committee truce now: blockade or no testing a blockade on mand was nearly wiped out by even though a peace coordina- blockade. But Kathmandu to pressure the the security forces over the tion committee formed by the that may Editorial p2 palace. This is a move fraught past six months (see p5). past government already exists actually Unilateral with danger for both sides: the Two months after coming at the prime ministers office. depend on truce, now Maoists must win and the army to power, Prime Minister Sher All this is sounding like a how tight the Maoist blockade must try to keep a vulnerable Bahadur Deuba has been farce to many peace activists. will be and how long it will last. highway artery open. stonewalling on peace despite UML members realise that Deuba New Delhi is learnt to be Kathmandu has seen sieges pressure from his UML coali- is running circles around them, monitoring the blockade and the in the past: Prithbi Narayan Shah tion partners. The blockade has but cant do much. In fact, UML forced closure of businesses strangled the Valley before put the government on the has now switched to blistering having Indian investments with conquering it in 1760s, and in defensive, but may actually attacks on the Maoists for growing alarm. Indian Foreign 1988-89 Kathmandu suffered an have strengthened its resolve being anti-peace. Secretary Shyam Saran met Indian blockade. not to give in. The government has said it Nepals envoy in New Delhi This is ideal terrain for a Deubas stand has been that is in touch with international Karna Dhoj Adhikari on siege: the narrow Nag Dhunga he will not agree to talks just for conflict experts. We have Wednesday to express concern. pass is the only road to the the sake of talks. To this end, he been consulting with them , The Indian press reports Deuba plains. As the first three days has set up a plethora of says Information Minister is to visit New Delhi on 9 have shown, the Maoists dont agencies: a high-level peace Mohmmad Mohsin. Once the September. l need to physically have guerril- committee, a Peace Secretariat, Peace Secretariat is set up, we las blocking the road to stop a working committee for the will produce a dossier based (Reporting by Navin Singh Khadka) 2 EDITORIAL 20 - 26 AUGUST 2004 #210 Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Chief Editor: Kunda Dixit Desk Editor: Jemima Sherpa Design: Kiran Maharjan Web: Bhushan Shilpakar Advertising: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Subscription: Anil Karki, [email protected] Sanchaya Kosh Building, Block A-4th Floor, Lalitpur Remembering Doramba GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 01-5543333-6, Fax: 01-5521013 [email protected], www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 01-5547018 A Human Rights Accord needs to be implemented immediately UNILATERAL TRUCE, NOW he first anniversary of the the Doramba killings as being impunity cited in the Amnesty ommunists the world over are big on anniversaries. The Maoists even more massacre at Doramba on 17 instrumental in the breakdown 2002 report continues unabated, so. No surprise, therefore, that their threat to close down 11 large T C August passed unnoticed. of peace talks and the and Nepals judiciary lies in businesses was timed for the first anniversary of the Doramba massacre on 17 August. The announcement of the blockade of the valley also comes a A ceasefire was in effect resumption of violence ten helpless disarray its year after the breakdown of the last ceasefire. The Maoists and the army blamed when 19 suspected Maoists, days later. independence and authority each other for the collapse of that truce, but it was no secret that their minds including five women, were An independent army undermined by the power of the were not in it. Both sides were using it to rearm, and the Maoists to take their captured. When news got out, investigation into Doramba army. revolution a notch higher to the ‘strategic equilibrium’ phase. In the past year, the Maoists have skillfully shifted the country’s political the Royal Nepali Army initially ultimately put the blame on There is an immediate spectrum to the left—most parties have now come around to supporting at least said the rebels had been killed the major who had commanded protection crisis in Nepal their constituent assembly demand if not openly espousing republicanism. This during an ambush. A fact- the patrol in Doramba, and the which needs to be addressed. was helped in no small measure by King Gyanendra’s own uncompromising 2004 AI report stated that The governments recently- position vis-à-vis the parliamentary parties in the past two years. The end result GUEST COLUMN proceedings to court martial announced National Human is that the conflict in this country has now gone from tripolar to bipolar: we are him had begun. However, there Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) being forced to choose between republic or monarchy. This blurring of the middle Seira Tamang suits the Maoists just fine. are signs of a coverup: the backed by UNDP needs careful The question is how long do the rebels and the royals want this to drag on. finding team sent by the initial story that the 19 were scrutiny. The official UNDP How long do the people have to be punished for this power struggle which is now National Human Rights Commis- killed in an encounter, the description of NHRAP says it boiling down to its essence: the supremacy of the monarchy. It would save a lot sion (NHRC) concluded that the troops being in civvies, the outlines a detailed plan of of grief if the monarch, in the long-term interest of his own dynasty and people, offered a devolution of his traditional powers. By waiting, the consequences may majority had died of gun shots to victims having been subdued actions to be carried out in the be much more dire for his kingdom and his subjects. the head, fired from close range. some three hours before being next five years or so to improve Such a compromise would not be a sign of weakness but of statesmanship. Two months after the massacre, executed, and the questionable the overall human rights Immediately, it would pave the way for a truce and talks. But the two needn’t Manjushree Thapa visited the assertion that a massacre of situation in the country. Yet, as happen together: we have seen in Sri Lanka that a ceasefire is possible even if such magnitude could have William ONeill, the independ- there is no immediate prospect of negotiations. All you need is the political will to find a middle way. At the very least, a truce would give 24 million Nepalis who been decided by a junior ent human rights lawyer want no part in this war some relief and breathing space. officer in the field. brought in to review the NHRAP A ceasefire can also be unilateral, and we wholeheartedly Doramba had presented a made clear in his internal endorse the UML’s stand on this. The military needn’t see this as real opportunity to bring the report now in the public a sign of defeat since it won’t really change things on the RNA back under civilian domain, the NHRAP as ground. Instead, it will provide the army the moral high ground. The Maoists, whose revolution is now in danger control, and the role of its currently conceived, is the of degenerating into a nationwide extortion racket, international supporters was wrong strategy at the wrong would be forced to respond. key. It was, and is, on them time for Nepals human rights By continuing to kill journalists and unarmed site and wrote in this paper that the army depends on to crisis. The focus for the UN citizens, the rebels have earned the opprobrium (Storm over Dormaba, #165): successfully pursue the should be on protection and of civilised people everywhere. Their valley siege is a dangerous end-game gamble to put the captives were then led counter-insurgency war. enhancing government and pressure on the palace. Added up, we sense a to a forest and, with their hands One year later, the legacy of Maoist accountability for desperate attempt to arrange a soft landing. tied, summarily executed. An Doramba is glaring: Nepal tops human rights violations, not on The government must respond with a proactive Amnesty International report the world in the number of the long-term, more peace gesture.