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Nepal: Peace and Justice

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Nepal: Peace and Justice NEPAL: PEACE AND JUSTICE Asia Report N°184 – 14 January 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. CAN THERE BE PEACE AND JUSTICE?................................................................... 2 A. BETTER TO FORGIVE AND FORGET? .............................................................................................2 B. PUSHING THE PEACE PROCESS .....................................................................................................3 C. DANGEROUS CYCLES...................................................................................................................4 III. CULTURES OF IMPUNITY ........................................................................................... 5 A. A DECADE OF DIRTY WAR ..........................................................................................................6 1. The state.......................................................................................................................................6 2. The Maoists..................................................................................................................................8 B. WHY DID SYSTEMATIC STATE VIOLATIONS TAKE PLACE? ..........................................................9 C. THE MAOISTS: PLAYING BY REVOLUTIONARY RULES................................................................11 D. REINFORCEMENT AT HOME AND ABROAD..................................................................................12 IV. AFTER THE WAR ......................................................................................................... 13 A. PROMISES BUT NO PROGRESS ....................................................................................................13 B. THE ARMY.................................................................................................................................15 C. THE MAOISTS ............................................................................................................................16 D. THE VICTIMS .............................................................................................................................17 E. PARTY APPROACHES..................................................................................................................17 F. CIVIL SOCIETY...........................................................................................................................18 V. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ...................................................................................... 19 A. PROGRESS ON PROSECUTIONS ....................................................................................................19 B. BUILDING BETTER COMMISSIONS ..............................................................................................20 C. LINKING INTERNATIONAL MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO JUSTICE...................................................21 D. UNITED NATIONS: PRINCIPLES AND PEACEKEEPING..................................................................23 VI. CONCLUSION................................................................................................................ 26 APPENDICES A. MAP OF NEPAL ................................................................................................................................27 B. GLOSSARY.......................................................................................................................................28 C. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ....................................................................................29 D. CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON ASIA SINCE 2007.........................................................30 E. CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES................................................................................................32 Asia Report N°184 14 January 2010 NEPAL: PEACE AND JUSTICE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Failure to address the systematic crimes committed during gitimate, sought to characterise violence – including Nepal’s ten-year civil war is threatening the peace proc- brutal killings of civilians and political opponents – as ess. There has been not a single prosecution in civilian an essential, and justified, plank of political strategy. courts for any abuses. The cultures of impunity that en- abled the crimes in the first place have remained intact, At the heart of the peace deal lay a commitment to rec- further increasing public distrust and incentives to re- ognise that both sides had broken fundamental rules. sort to violence. The immediate priorities should be But neither believes its actions were wrong. Both insist prosecutions of the most serious crimes, investigation on judging their own, meting out no real punishment, of disappearances and action to vet state and Maoist and have refused to cooperate with civilian authorities. security force members. Lack of action on justice is not for lack of promises. Commitments to human rights norms and specific steps There are tensions between the pursuit of justice and the such as investigating disappearances have been central pursuit of peace. An absolutist approach to accountabil- to successive agreements, including the CPA. Lip service, ity for past abuses is impossible in practice and could however, has only become entrenched as a substitute obstruct the compromises needed to bring formerly war- for action. ring parties together to forge a stable political settlement. But tackling impunity and improving accountability has Concern for victims has been inconsistent. The most a direct and acute relevance to managing Nepal’s fractious tangible response has been interim relief payments to transition. Unaccountable and heavy-handed security families of those who died or were disappeared. Yet this measures by a state with weak legitimacy have escalated has been weakened by political manipulation and the lack conflict before and threaten to do so again. of effective oversight of fund distribution. For relatives of the more than 1,000 still missing, distress, frustration Multiple grievances are not being effectively channelled and a sense of betrayal have grown. through the constitutional process, and dealing with them is fraught with risk as long as political violence remains Political parties have shown no interest in dealing with a viable tool. Yet moving from a state of impunity to one past crimes. Indeed, they have exploited the lack of of accountability will be a painful transition for many accountability to avoid reining in the unlawful activities individuals in the security forces and political parties. of their own activists and to justify regular interference Avoiding, or deferring, this discomfort may appear tempt- in the criminal justice system. This has left a demoral- ing but is counterproductive. Longstanding cycles of abuse ised, ineffective and increasingly desperate police force have undermined prospects for improved public security to confront growing insecurity and small yet still dan- and peaceful political debate. gerous local, regional and ethnic struggles. Both sides carried out repeated and systematic violations But political leaders alone are not to blame. The domes- of the laws of war during the conflict, which ended with tic constituency for justice is minimal. Despite the pio- the November 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement neering work of some activists, rights and justice are (CPA). State security forces accountable primarily to the not rallying calls for the politically influential middle interests of party leaders or the palace felt unconstrained classes. Citizens are not keen to re-examine what the by legal requirements. They were responsible for hun- state did in the name of their security, and see no need for dreds of disappearances and unlawful killings, rampant national dialogue and catharsis. Many victims were from torture and other abuses of the civilian population. Of disadvantaged communities long marginalised by the state the more than 13,000 people killed during the war, the and more influential social strata. Media and parliamen- vast majority died at the hands of the state. The Maoists, tary attention to questions of justice is sporadic. in challenging a state they portrayed as unjust and ille- Nepal: Peace and Justice Crisis Group Asia Report N°184, 14 January 2010 Page ii International efforts are no substitute for national will. To the Government of Nepal: Nevertheless, international commitment is to support a peace process based on fundamental rights. Allowing 4. Direct and equip the police and attorney general’s words to replace substance undermines such principles. office to pursue investigations and prosecutions of The UN has lost credibility as its core values have been all serious conflict-period crimes by: marginalised during the process. With no systematic a) giving direct instructions to police to execute vetting of peacekeeping troops by either the government outstanding arrest warrants; or the UN, even high-profile alleged abusers have been deployed in lucrative posts in UN missions – including, b) setting up special police and prosecutors’ units to in September 2009, one army major sought by Nepal’s investigate and prosecute war crimes, with senior police and courts for questioning over the torture and and experienced staff backed by
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