KATHMANDU, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The anti-government guerrillas have abducted at least 2,000 civilians in a far-western district of Nepal, local government office confirmed here Thursday.
"At least 2,000 civilians, most of them teachers and students, have been abducted in a week from remote villages of Achham district, some 700 km west of Kathmandu," District Administrative Office said in a press statement.
The guerrillas started abducting civilians from Saturday, the statement noted, adding, "The guerrillas abducted students and teachers of 30 schools located in different remote villages including Yalsa, Bayalpata, Barala, Binayak, Dhaku, Durmakada and Hirma of the district."
Meanwhile, the guerrillas have also abducted one member each of a family from 40 villages of the district.
"The guerrillas took the civilians towards an undisclosed location," the statement quoted the locals as saying.
This is the biggest incident of abduction by the guerrillas since they declared a unilateral ceasefire on Sept. 3.
The guerrillas often force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their "ideological" programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed.
Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
Nepal police arrest 80 journalists staging press freedom protest
8 minutes ago KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepalese police arrested 80 journalists who staged a demonstration demanding the restoration of press freedom in the country which has been shaken by a wave of pro-democracy protests.
The journalists were arrested because they staged the demonstration in a central area of the capital Kathmandu where protests have been banned since King Gyanendra seized power in February, police said on Friday.
Although a number of journalists have been arrested in the wake of the king's takeover, this marked the largest single roundup.
"The journalists violated the prohibition law and this forced our men to clear them from the prohibited area. In this process, we arrested 80 journalists," a police inspector told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He declined further comment.
The Federation of Nepalese Journalists said those arrested included the group's chairman, Buishnu Nishthuri, and Rishi Dhamala, president of the Reporters Club.
"Over a dozen journalists were injured in the police baton charge," federation general secretary Mahendra Bista told AFP.
An AFP photographer Devendra Man Singh was beaten over the head while covering the protest and needed stitches.
Thousands of people have been turning out for daily protests organised by an alliance of seven political parties demanding restoration of democracy in the impoverished kingdom.
The nation has been in turmoil since Gyanendra seized absolute power, a move he said was needed to end a deadly Maoist revolt aimed at overthrowing the monarchy.
Sphere: Related Content62 armed forces and security personnel released under ICRC auspice
ICRC Press release
16 Sep 2005 09:20:00 GMT
Source: NGO latest
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - SwitzerlandInternational Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland
Website: http:/
Geneva/Kathmandu (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today facilitated the release and safe return of 60 Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) personnel held by the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoists (CPN-M). The 60 men had been captured during an attack on the RNA base camp in Pili (Kalikot district) in early August. On the same day, but at the other end of the country, one policeman and one RNA soldier were handed over to the ICRC in Udayapur district. The men had reportedly been captured on 16 and 28 August 2005 in two different incidents in the vicinity of Lahan (Siraha district). The ICRC handed over the released detainees to the authorities. The ICRC was not involved in negotiating the release of the personnel, but intervened in its capacity of neutral intermediary accepted by both parties to the conflict to facilitate the safe return of these men once the Maoists (CPN-M) had decided to release them. A confidential bilateral dialogue before the releases was key to ensuring that both parties agreed to create a safe environment for the duration of these operations. The release of the 60 detainees took place in a remote rural area of the eastern part of Jajarkot district, in mid-western Nepal. This meant a long and complicated trip for ICRC delegates, which started on 9 September and included a two-day trek to reach the detainees. Before starting on the long walk home with them, the team of six delegates (including one medical staff) spoke in private with all the detainees to ensure that they were returning of their own free will. In the past, the ICRC was instrumental in the release of 25 policemen in October 2001 and of 76 members of the Nepal Police, the Royal Nepalese Army and the civil service in 2004. In 2005, the ICRC facilitated the release and safe return of 29 government officials and armed forces and security personnel in four different events, the last one being on 18 July 2005 when 18 such personnel were released in Dhanusa district. The ICRC has been working with the parties to the conflict in Nepal since 1998 as an impartial, neutral and independent humanitarian organization whose purpose is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of conflict and internal violence. The ICRC strives to visit detainees held by both parties to the conflict and stands ready to facilitate releases, should the parties so request it.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Sphere: Related ContentThursday, September 15, 2005
Nepal's Maoists free 60 soldiers
By Sushil Sharma BBC News, Kathmandu |
 The rebels have fought an armed insurgency for 10 years |
The soldiers were captured following a rebel attack on an army barracks in the west of the country in early August.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) negotiated the release of the soldiers.
The release comes two weeks after the rebels declared a unilateral three month cease-fire.
The cease-fire has been widely welcomed across the country.
The government refuses to reciprocate.
'Good condition'
The soldiers were expected to arrive in the western town of Nepalgunj on Thursday after a two-day trek from the remote Jajarkot district where they had been freed in the presence of Red Cross representatives.
The rebels had captured the soldiers following a fierce attack on an army barracks in the neighbouring Kalikot district.
Fifty-five soldiers and 26 rebels died in the fighting.
A BBC reporter in the region says the freed soldiers are in good condition.
National and international human right groups had urged the rebels to unconditionally free the soldiers.
The rebels had earlier pledged to free them at "an appropriate time".
'Increased pressure'
The government is refusing to join in the rebels' ceasefire because it says the Maoists cannot be trusted.
Analysts say the move to release the soldiers at this point of time could increase pressure on the government to reciprocate the peace moves.
Twelve thousand people have been killed since the rebel insurgency began 10 years ago.
The rebels say they want an interim government and elections for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution.
This, they say, will clear the way for replacing the monarchy with a people's republic. Sphere: Related ContentWednesday, September 14, 2005
US says to continue arms embargo on Nepal
The United States will continue an arms embargo on Nepal because of its failure to restore democracy after a royal takeover in February by King Gyanendra, seen here in July 200509.14.2005, 07:11 AM
KATHMANDU (AFX) - A US arms embargo on Nepal will remain in place because democracy has still not been restored after a royal takeover in February and because of continued human rights abuses by the army, the US embassy said.
The US Secretary of State declined to certify that Nepal's army has complied with human rights guidelines or issue a waiver that would allow arms sales on national security grounds, embassy spokesman Robert Hugins said.
'The decision of the State Department to continue to withhold lethal arms supply to Nepal was taken this month and was conveyed to the Nepalese government recently,' Hugins said.
Arms sales were suspended after king Gyanendra sacked a coalition government and seized power to curb a Maoist insurgency that has claimed more than 12,000 lives since 1996.
Under US law, the State Department is required annually to certify that the army has complied with human rights guidelines, including access to civilians held in army detention centers, before any arms sales, Hugins said.
The Secretary of State can waive the human rights certification requirements on national security grounds, but declined to do so, he said.
Several countries have curtailed arms shipments to Nepal since the takeover, including India and the UK.
The US has called for a return to democratic rule, but also said it remains concerned about the Maoist rebellion and has maintained contacts with senior Nepalese officials.
On Tuesday, Lt. General John Brown III of the US Pacific Command met Nepal army chief Pyar Jung Thapa, an army statement said.
'Discussions on topical issues of mutual concern were held between the visiting US general and senior army officials,' it said. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - Asia: Nepal police beat, arrest protesters
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 · Last updated 11:52 a.m. PT
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Riot police wielding bamboo batons beat and arrested hundreds of protesters marching through Katmandu on Tuesday demanding the restoration of democracy in this Himalayan kingdom.
Top opposition leaders were among the 300 people arrested. About three dozen people were hurt, with some suffering head injuries, hospital officials said, when police beat them in an attempt to disperse the crowd of more than 6,000 gathered in the capital.
Police dragged about 300 protesters to police vans and trucks and drove them to detention centers.
The rally, led by top opposition leaders from Nepal's seven largest political parties, moved into the city center despite a government ban on gatherings there. The protesters broke through police lines, chanting slogans against the royal government.
"Down with autocracy! We want democracy! Give back power to the people!" the protesters shouted.
Protesters hurled rocks and bricks, injuring two police officers. One witness said a radio journalist covering the event also was beaten by police.
Protesters demanding the restoration of democracy in this Himalayan nation have held daily rallies in Katmandu over the past week to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power earlier this year. Tuesday's rally was the largest.
Seven major political parties have vowed to continue protests until the king gives up power and restores democracy.
The monarch said he was compelled to assume power to quell a communist insurgency, which has claimed more than 11,500 lives in nine years, and to end government corruption.
Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party, said its top leaders - including Ram Chandra Poudel, Susil Koirala and Ram Sharan Mahat - were arrested.
The Communist Party of Nepal, the second-largest party, said its leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and other top officials were detained.
It was unclear when they would be freed or if they would face criminal charges. Police officials said they were waiting for orders. Sphere: Related Content
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Riot police wielding bamboo batons beat and arrested hundreds of protesters marching through Katmandu on Tuesday demanding the restoration of democracy in this Himalayan kingdom.
Top opposition leaders were among the 300 people arrested. About three dozen people were hurt, with some suffering head injuries, hospital officials said, when police beat them in an attempt to disperse the crowd of more than 6,000 gathered in the capital.
Police dragged about 300 protesters to police vans and trucks and drove them to detention centers.
The rally, led by top opposition leaders from Nepal's seven largest political parties, moved into the city center despite a government ban on gatherings there. The protesters broke through police lines, chanting slogans against the royal government.
"Down with autocracy! We want democracy! Give back power to the people!" the protesters shouted.
Protesters hurled rocks and bricks, injuring two police officers. One witness said a radio journalist covering the event also was beaten by police.
Protesters demanding the restoration of democracy in this Himalayan nation have held daily rallies in Katmandu over the past week to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power earlier this year. Tuesday's rally was the largest.
Seven major political parties have vowed to continue protests until the king gives up power and restores democracy.
The monarch said he was compelled to assume power to quell a communist insurgency, which has claimed more than 11,500 lives in nine years, and to end government corruption.
Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party, said its top leaders - including Ram Chandra Poudel, Susil Koirala and Ram Sharan Mahat - were arrested.
The Communist Party of Nepal, the second-largest party, said its leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and other top officials were detained.
It was unclear when they would be freed or if they would face criminal charges. Police officials said they were waiting for orders. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, September 10, 2005
BBC NEWS | South Asia | UN torture expert in Nepal visit
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Kathmandu
Mr Nowak's visit comes during a rebel ceasefire
The United Nations official in charge of investigating instances of torture around the world has arrived in Nepal for a week-long visit.
The United Nations official in charge of investigating instances of torture around the world has arrived in Nepal for a week-long visit.
Mr Nowak's visit comes during a rebel ceasefire
The visit by Manfred Nowak comes as concern grows at the increasing incidence of the practice in the violence-stricken kingdom.
Torture happened in Nepal before the start of the Maoist insurgency in 1996.
But with the onset of that conflict, human rights groups say the number of victims has risen.
They say both the government and rebel sides use torture on a widespread basis.
They also say that while each side sometimes takes action against its own people who have killed, torturers are never punished in the same way.
Victims afraid
A leading Nepali organisation, Centre for the Victims of Torture or C-Vict, says nearly 5,000 cases of physical or psychological torture were reported to it last year.
But it adds that victims are now getting more afraid of coming forward.
It also says it is having problems funding professional treatment and sending its experts into conflict-hit areas.
Nepal has the world's highest rate of fresh political disappearances, and C-Vict says that people who disappear have often been tortured to death.
During his seven-day visit, the UN official is to visit places where the government side detains people.
Manfred Nowak will later submit a written report on Nepal to the next session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
His visit comes a week into a three-month ceasefire called unilaterally by the Maoists.
Each side has already accused the other of behaving violently, but the size and frequency of such incidents do appear to be down.
Sphere: Related Content
Torture happened in Nepal before the start of the Maoist insurgency in 1996.
But with the onset of that conflict, human rights groups say the number of victims has risen.
They say both the government and rebel sides use torture on a widespread basis.
They also say that while each side sometimes takes action against its own people who have killed, torturers are never punished in the same way.
Victims afraid
A leading Nepali organisation, Centre for the Victims of Torture or C-Vict, says nearly 5,000 cases of physical or psychological torture were reported to it last year.
But it adds that victims are now getting more afraid of coming forward.
It also says it is having problems funding professional treatment and sending its experts into conflict-hit areas.
Nepal has the world's highest rate of fresh political disappearances, and C-Vict says that people who disappear have often been tortured to death.
During his seven-day visit, the UN official is to visit places where the government side detains people.
Manfred Nowak will later submit a written report on Nepal to the next session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
His visit comes a week into a three-month ceasefire called unilaterally by the Maoists.
Each side has already accused the other of behaving violently, but the size and frequency of such incidents do appear to be down.
Friday, September 09, 2005
The Nippon Myohoji Peace Pagoda in Lumbini,birthplace of Lord Buddha and cultural hub of the Southwest
Reuters AlertNet - Nepal anti-king protests continue, dozens detained
08 Sep 2005 13:38:26 GMT
KATHAMNDU, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Pro-democracy protesters clashed with Nepali police for the fifth day on Thursday as protests raged against King Gyanendra who fired the government and took control seven months ago.
Police said 73 protesters from seven political parties opposed to the king's Feb. 1 move were detained and 12 were hurt in a scuffle as police stopped about 5,000 demonstrators from entering the city centre where anti-king rallies are banned.
Organisers said more than 100 people were put in iron-meshed police vans and driven to a police centre.
"We want democracy," activists shouted. "We don't accept absolute monarchy."
The protests came after Maoist rebels announced a three-month ceasefire at the weekend in a move to win the support of the mainstream parties opposed to the monarch who seized total power and suspended civil liberties.
He had said the move was necessary to quell a Maoist revolt in which more than 12,500 people have died. Sphere: Related Content
KATHAMNDU, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Pro-democracy protesters clashed with Nepali police for the fifth day on Thursday as protests raged against King Gyanendra who fired the government and took control seven months ago.
Police said 73 protesters from seven political parties opposed to the king's Feb. 1 move were detained and 12 were hurt in a scuffle as police stopped about 5,000 demonstrators from entering the city centre where anti-king rallies are banned.
Organisers said more than 100 people were put in iron-meshed police vans and driven to a police centre.
"We want democracy," activists shouted. "We don't accept absolute monarchy."
The protests came after Maoist rebels announced a three-month ceasefire at the weekend in a move to win the support of the mainstream parties opposed to the monarch who seized total power and suspended civil liberties.
He had said the move was necessary to quell a Maoist revolt in which more than 12,500 people have died. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Riot police officers detain a protester during a demonstration organized by an alliance of seven major political parties of Nepal against King Gyanendra in Katmandu. Police in riot gear swung batons and fired tear gas at thousands of protestors who demanded the restoration of democracy in the Himalayan kingdom.(September 05, 2005)
Sphere: Related Content
Monday, September 05, 2005
Reuters AlertNet - Nepal releases 160 pro-democracy protesters
05 Sep 2005 10:50:24 GMT
KATHMANDU, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Nepal's royalist government freed more than 160 anti-king protesters detained during a pro-democracy rally which turned violent at the weekend, police said on Monday.
The activists, including former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, were detained on Sunday during a rally criticising King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 power seizure and demanding the restoration of democracy.
"All those who were detained were released late on Sunday," a police officer told Reuters.
The 82-year-old Koirala who fainted during a scuffle with police when protesters tried to break through a police cordon was taken to his home and freed on Sunday.
Dozens of protesters from seven mainstream political parties were also injured when police used batons and lobbed tear gas shells in the old part of the temple-studded capital where the protests were organised.
Seven political parties that controlled more than 190 seats in the 205-member parliament dissolved in 2002 have been protesting since February when Gyanendra, officially a constitutional monarch, suspended civil liberties.
The king said his move was prompted by the failure of squabbling political parties to quell an increasingly deadly Maoist insurgency in which more than 12,500 people have died.
The Maoists want to overthrow the monarchy and set up a communist republic in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
The parties said they were undaunted by the crackdown.
"We will continue our protests until democracy is restored," said Subhash Nemwang, a senior member of the Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party, the second largest group in the seven-party alliance.
He said activists would organise anti-king rallies in Kathmandu on Monday. Sphere: Related Content
KATHMANDU, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Nepal's royalist government freed more than 160 anti-king protesters detained during a pro-democracy rally which turned violent at the weekend, police said on Monday.
The activists, including former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, were detained on Sunday during a rally criticising King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 power seizure and demanding the restoration of democracy.
"All those who were detained were released late on Sunday," a police officer told Reuters.
The 82-year-old Koirala who fainted during a scuffle with police when protesters tried to break through a police cordon was taken to his home and freed on Sunday.
Dozens of protesters from seven mainstream political parties were also injured when police used batons and lobbed tear gas shells in the old part of the temple-studded capital where the protests were organised.
Seven political parties that controlled more than 190 seats in the 205-member parliament dissolved in 2002 have been protesting since February when Gyanendra, officially a constitutional monarch, suspended civil liberties.
The king said his move was prompted by the failure of squabbling political parties to quell an increasingly deadly Maoist insurgency in which more than 12,500 people have died.
The Maoists want to overthrow the monarchy and set up a communist republic in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
The parties said they were undaunted by the crackdown.
"We will continue our protests until democracy is restored," said Subhash Nemwang, a senior member of the Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party, the second largest group in the seven-party alliance.
He said activists would organise anti-king rallies in Kathmandu on Monday. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Police Arrest Former PM at Nepal Protest - Los Angeles Times
6:32 AM PDT, September 4, 2005
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Police fired tear gas and used bamboo batons to stop pro-democracy demonstrators from marching into the capital's center Sunday, arresting a former prime minister and dozens of other protesters.
About 5,000 people chanting "We want democracy" marched to protest King Gyanendra's dissolution of parliament and institution of direct rule in the Himalayan kingdom Feb. 1. They tried to march into central Katmandu, where protests are banned, but were driven off by police.
Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister and president of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party, was among those detained.
Koirala, 80, briefly lost consciousness during a scuffle with police. Authorities took him to Teaching Hospital, where doctors said his injuries were not serious.
"We condemn the use of such force on a peaceful protest. We will continue to our protests until democracy is restored," said Arjun Narsingh, spokesman for Nepali Congress.
Leaders and supporters of seven major political parties gathered in the Basantapur neighborhood and began marching toward the main market area when riot police charged them.
A few hundred protesters managed to break the police line but were quickly pushed back as several rounds of tear gas were fired at them.
Some injured protesters were treated at Bir Hospital. One of them, Madhav Poudel, said that police had beaten him with batons and that many marchers suffered injuries.
There have been several protests since Feb. 1 demanding that democracy be restored. King Gyanendra said he was compelled to assume absolute power to quell a communist insurgency that has claimed more than 11,500 lives in nine years and to end government corruption. Sphere: Related Content
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal -- Police fired tear gas and used bamboo batons to stop pro-democracy demonstrators from marching into the capital's center Sunday, arresting a former prime minister and dozens of other protesters.
About 5,000 people chanting "We want democracy" marched to protest King Gyanendra's dissolution of parliament and institution of direct rule in the Himalayan kingdom Feb. 1. They tried to march into central Katmandu, where protests are banned, but were driven off by police.
Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister and president of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party, was among those detained.
Koirala, 80, briefly lost consciousness during a scuffle with police. Authorities took him to Teaching Hospital, where doctors said his injuries were not serious.
"We condemn the use of such force on a peaceful protest. We will continue to our protests until democracy is restored," said Arjun Narsingh, spokesman for Nepali Congress.
Leaders and supporters of seven major political parties gathered in the Basantapur neighborhood and began marching toward the main market area when riot police charged them.
A few hundred protesters managed to break the police line but were quickly pushed back as several rounds of tear gas were fired at them.
Some injured protesters were treated at Bir Hospital. One of them, Madhav Poudel, said that police had beaten him with batons and that many marchers suffered injuries.
There have been several protests since Feb. 1 demanding that democracy be restored. King Gyanendra said he was compelled to assume absolute power to quell a communist insurgency that has claimed more than 11,500 lives in nine years and to end government corruption. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Nepal rebels declare three-month ceasefire - World - smh.com.au
September 3, 2005 - 8:42PM
Nepal's Maoist rebels on Saturday announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire starting immediately in an effort to aid talks with political parties in the Himalayan nation.
Maoist leader Prachanda said he hoped the truce would create a "conducive atmosphere" for talks with the parties on forming a united opposition against the February seizure of power by King Gyanendra.
"During this period, our People's Liberation Army will not launch an offensive," Prachanda said in a faxed statement. "But if there are any attacks on our side by the army, we will violently retaliate."
Gyanendra sacked a four-party government seven months ago for failing to tackle the Maoist rebellion that has claimed about 12,000 lives since 1996.
Seven political parties formed an alliance in response, and last month they said they would hold talks with the Maoists on forming a broad front against Gyanendra, provided the rebels honour their promise to stop killing civilians.
Gyanendra responded with a renewed offer of dialogue with the political parties but was rebuffed last week by the two largest groups.
Human rights groups say the insurgency has led to major human rights violations by both the army and the rebels.
In 2003 and 2004, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances said it had received more reports of disappearances at the hands of the Nepali government than from any other country.
Human rights groups have also accused the rebels of systematic abductions of students for indoctrination, and blamed the guerillas for the assassinations of government officials.
Last month, the rebels captured scores of soldiers and killed 40 in a major battle in western Nepal, according to the army. The Maoists said they lost 25 fighters in the clash and were treating the captives "in a humane manner".
The violence has brought international condemnation on both sides as well as reviews of military and humanitarian assistance from several countries including the US, Britain and India.
In response, the government in April invited the United Nations to appoint a high commissioner for human rights to the country to investigate complaints, a step also welcomed by the Maoists, who want the UN to mediate in Nepal.
AFP Sphere: Related Content
Nepal's Maoist rebels on Saturday announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire starting immediately in an effort to aid talks with political parties in the Himalayan nation.
Maoist leader Prachanda said he hoped the truce would create a "conducive atmosphere" for talks with the parties on forming a united opposition against the February seizure of power by King Gyanendra.
"During this period, our People's Liberation Army will not launch an offensive," Prachanda said in a faxed statement. "But if there are any attacks on our side by the army, we will violently retaliate."
Gyanendra sacked a four-party government seven months ago for failing to tackle the Maoist rebellion that has claimed about 12,000 lives since 1996.
Seven political parties formed an alliance in response, and last month they said they would hold talks with the Maoists on forming a broad front against Gyanendra, provided the rebels honour their promise to stop killing civilians.
Gyanendra responded with a renewed offer of dialogue with the political parties but was rebuffed last week by the two largest groups.
Human rights groups say the insurgency has led to major human rights violations by both the army and the rebels.
In 2003 and 2004, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances said it had received more reports of disappearances at the hands of the Nepali government than from any other country.
Human rights groups have also accused the rebels of systematic abductions of students for indoctrination, and blamed the guerillas for the assassinations of government officials.
Last month, the rebels captured scores of soldiers and killed 40 in a major battle in western Nepal, according to the army. The Maoists said they lost 25 fighters in the clash and were treating the captives "in a humane manner".
The violence has brought international condemnation on both sides as well as reviews of military and humanitarian assistance from several countries including the US, Britain and India.
In response, the government in April invited the United Nations to appoint a high commissioner for human rights to the country to investigate complaints, a step also welcomed by the Maoists, who want the UN to mediate in Nepal.
AFP Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Despair of Nepal's unwanted exiles
BBC correspondent, Kathmandu
In recent weeks the authorities in both Bhutan and India have foiled attempts by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal to return home.
They are among 105,000 Bhutanese who have been in seven camps in Nepal since the early 1990s, largely ignored by the world.
All are from Nepalese ethnic groups; most were stripped of their citizenship by Bhutan or expelled after campaigning for democracy.
Their restless mood is evident in the three Beldangi camps near the town of Damak.
This is a part of Nepal so low-lying that farmhouses are built on stilts to prevent flooding.
'Ordered out'
Travelling there, we passed paddy fields and palm trees until the sudden appearance of the camps - rows of bamboo huts bordered by open scrub where children kicked balls around and refugees queued for the telephone.
Even children born in these camps call Bhutan "home". And every adult has a story of exile to tell.
Forty-four-year-old Hari Bangaley lives here with his family. He was ordered out of Bhutan after campaigning against new citizenship laws which he says were loaded against ethnic Nepalis.
He had been imprisoned and, he alleges, tortured by being hung upside down and beaten.
"When the blood came out of my nose and mouth, an official said, You still hang him like this - a person will not die unless three bottles of blood is taken out from his body," says Hari.
Another exile, Sita Maya Rai, showed us an old Bhutan identity card which appeared to mark her as a second-class citizen.
She says she and her family fled after being abruptly told they were foreigners and must leave Bhutan.
Indian authorities ferried the exiles across Indian territory to Nepal, despite laws which allow Bhutanese and Nepalis unrestricted access to India.
Ethnic expulsion
Bhutan's actions appeared to be based on a desire to maintain its secluded Buddhist identity. Many people there say this was threatened by the size of the mostly Hindu Nepali-speaking population.
Indeed, there are still far more Nepali-speakers within Bhutan than in the camps.
Bhutan insists many Nepali-speakers were illegal immigrants or otherwise non-Bhutanese, and that most people leaving around 1990 did so voluntarily, forfeiting their citizenship.
The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which is mandated to protect them, disagrees, saying these people are Bhutanese and were evicted. International human rights groups call the process "one of the largest ethnic expulsions in modern history".
The camps' confined conditions engender boredom and despair.
People depend on World Food Programme rations. Some do casual jobs like weaving, but officially, paid work is forbidden both inside and outside the camps.
Young people queue for special permits just to live in Damak to study.
"You depend completely on others," says Sita Maya. "It's a miserable existence."
Defiant
Earlier this month she joined hundreds of others in a bid to cross into India en route back to Bhutan. Indian forces chased them back.
The attempt was organised by political groups among the refugees. But the UNHCR criticised the groups for acting unilaterally and putting the refugees at risk.
"Can you imagine, they took very young children, handicapped people," says UNHCR representative in Nepal Abraham Abraham.
"They put them onto buses saying these buses were provided by UNHCR for them to return home."
He accuses the groups of using vulnerable refugees for political ends. Return programmes should involve both governments and the UNHCR, he says.
But refugee political groupings are defiant.
"People are ready to go back to Bhutan," says SR Subba, chairman of the Human Rights Organisation of Bhutan, which organised the abortive crossing. "They pressurise us to organise and lead them."
Days later another group were turned back at the Bhutanese border. Mr Subba says such attempts will continue "till we achieve our goal".
Some, however, wonder whether Bhutan will ever let them back, because even after 15 rounds of Nepal-Bhutan talks, not a single one has returned.
Frustrated
After the fifteenth and latest round, in 2003, Bhutan conceded that three-quarters of the refugees in the one camp surveyed had a right to return.
But it said nearly all would have to stay two years in transit camps while proving their loyalty to the country. Even bona-fide Bhutanese would not get their homes back.
Bhutan bans the UNHCR from its soil and the refugee agency has given up promoting returns. It suggests alternatives - resettlement in third countries, or in Nepal itself.
Like others, 30-year-old Manarath Khanal reluctantly admits he may have to settle for that.
His voice cracking with emotion, he says many refugees have committed suicide and that every time people think about Bhutan "they are frustrated and depressed".
"Bhutan is the best option," he says. "But I don't want to be a refugee any more. I am fed up."
For him, life in the camps is unbearable - and any way out is desirable. Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, August 30, 2005
Nepal PM ready for talks with parties- The Times of India
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2005 11:37:34 AM ]
KATHMANDU: Admitting that the gap between him and Nepal's political parties has "widened", King Gyanendra has said he is open for dialogue with the parties provided they make their stand clear on certain issues, including terrorism.
"I have never said that I will never meet them, but there has to be some basis for it," the King said in an interview to the official media.
"The political parties must possess crystal-clear views on four issues- terrorism, good governance and corruption, politicisation in bureaucracy and financial discipline - for talks," he said adding "if they make clear views on these issues then there will be room for dialogue".
Conceding that the gap between him and political parties has "widened", he said "there have been squabbles between the political parties and the King as between husband and wife, which is natural when we are too close". Sphere: Related Content
KATHMANDU: Admitting that the gap between him and Nepal's political parties has "widened", King Gyanendra has said he is open for dialogue with the parties provided they make their stand clear on certain issues, including terrorism.
"I have never said that I will never meet them, but there has to be some basis for it," the King said in an interview to the official media.
"The political parties must possess crystal-clear views on four issues- terrorism, good governance and corruption, politicisation in bureaucracy and financial discipline - for talks," he said adding "if they make clear views on these issues then there will be room for dialogue".
Conceding that the gap between him and political parties has "widened", he said "there have been squabbles between the political parties and the King as between husband and wife, which is natural when we are too close". Sphere: Related Content
Monday, August 29, 2005
Reuters - Mon Aug 29, 5:46 AM ET
Nepali King Gyanendra arrives to inaugurate the 5th Information Ministers Meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in the capital Kathmandu August 29, 2005. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
Sphere: Related Content
Friday, August 26, 2005
Xinhua - English | Guerrillas abduct over 100 people in Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-25 21:43:52
KATHMANDU, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The anti-government guerrillas have abducted more than 100 people from various parts of Nepal in the past few days, Royal Nepal Army confirmed here Thursday.
"A group of guerrillas on Wednesday abducted 60 people from Sifti area in far-western Darchula district, some 800 km west of Kathmandu," Public Relations Directorate of the Army said in a press statement.
Similarly, at least 40 people were abducted on Tuesday from Deurali, Baluwa and Arwang areas of western Gorkha district, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, the statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the guerrillas abducted five villagers after opening fire Thursday morning at a minor community settlement in Jagatpur area of Saptari district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu.
The guerrillas also abducted a teacher and chairman of the management committee of Bhagiratha Secondary School in Sanischare area of Morang district, some 400 km east of Kathmandu, the statement noted.
"All of them have been taken to undisclosed locations," the statement added.
The guerrillas force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their "ideological" programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed. ">Xinhua - English: "Guerrillas abduct over 100 people in Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-25 21:43:52
KATHMANDU, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The anti-government guerrillas have abducted more than 100 people from various parts of Nepal in the past few days, Royal Nepal Army confirmed here Thursday.
'A group of guerrillas on Wednesday abducted 60 people from Sifti area in far-western Darchula district, some 800 km west of Kathmandu,' Public Relations Directorate of the Army said in a press statement.
Similarly, at least 40 people were abducted on Tuesday from Deurali, Baluwa and Arwang areas of western Gorkha district, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, the statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the guerrillas abducted five villagers after opening fire Thursday morning at a minor community settlement in Jagatpur area of Saptari district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu.
The guerrillas also abducted a teacher and chairman of the management committee of Bhagiratha Secondary School in Sanischare area of Morang district, some 400 km east of Kathmandu, the statement noted.
'All of them have been taken to undisclosed locations,' the statement added.
The guerrillas force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their 'ideological' programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed. " Sphere: Related Content
KATHMANDU, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The anti-government guerrillas have abducted more than 100 people from various parts of Nepal in the past few days, Royal Nepal Army confirmed here Thursday.
"A group of guerrillas on Wednesday abducted 60 people from Sifti area in far-western Darchula district, some 800 km west of Kathmandu," Public Relations Directorate of the Army said in a press statement.
Similarly, at least 40 people were abducted on Tuesday from Deurali, Baluwa and Arwang areas of western Gorkha district, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, the statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the guerrillas abducted five villagers after opening fire Thursday morning at a minor community settlement in Jagatpur area of Saptari district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu.
The guerrillas also abducted a teacher and chairman of the management committee of Bhagiratha Secondary School in Sanischare area of Morang district, some 400 km east of Kathmandu, the statement noted.
"All of them have been taken to undisclosed locations," the statement added.
The guerrillas force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their "ideological" programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed. ">Xinhua - English: "Guerrillas abduct over 100 people in Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-25 21:43:52
KATHMANDU, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The anti-government guerrillas have abducted more than 100 people from various parts of Nepal in the past few days, Royal Nepal Army confirmed here Thursday.
'A group of guerrillas on Wednesday abducted 60 people from Sifti area in far-western Darchula district, some 800 km west of Kathmandu,' Public Relations Directorate of the Army said in a press statement.
Similarly, at least 40 people were abducted on Tuesday from Deurali, Baluwa and Arwang areas of western Gorkha district, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, the statement revealed.
Meanwhile, the guerrillas abducted five villagers after opening fire Thursday morning at a minor community settlement in Jagatpur area of Saptari district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu.
The guerrillas also abducted a teacher and chairman of the management committee of Bhagiratha Secondary School in Sanischare area of Morang district, some 400 km east of Kathmandu, the statement noted.
'All of them have been taken to undisclosed locations,' the statement added.
The guerrillas force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their 'ideological' programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed. " Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
 The rebels aim to replace Nepal's monarchy with a communist republic |
The soldiers were captured three weeks ago after a raid on an army camp in western Nepal.
It was some of the bloodiest fighting since King Gyanendra seized direct control of the country in February.
The rebels have been under pressure from international human rights group to treat the captives humanely and also release them immediately.
The rebels have released the names of the captured soldiers and say they are being treated well.
"We want to inform that the soldiers are being treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention," the Associated Press news agency quotes a rebel leader, Sudarshan, as saying.
He also said journalists and human rights groups could meet the soldiers.
Violence
Clashes between rebels and government troops have increased since King Gyanendra dismissed the government and assumed direct power in February, saying politicians had failed to tackle the insurgency.
The attack on the army camp earlier this month provoked the US to warn Nepal's king to return the country to democracy or face a slide towards chaos.
More than 12,000 people have been killed since the rebels launched an armed struggle to replace the monarchy with a communist republic in 1996.
Sphere: Related Content
AP - Wed Aug 24, 6:26 AM ET
College students hold torches and chant slogans against Nepal's King Gyanendra to protest the recent price hike in petroleum product, in front of the Tribhuvan University building in Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Nepals royal government had raised the price of petroleum products, citing increased prices in the international market.
(AP Photo/Binod Joshi)
Sphere: Related Content
(AP Photo/Binod Joshi)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Riot police throw brickbats at protesting students during a demonstration against King Gyanendra in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Aug. 22, 2005. Nepal's royal government had raised the price of petroleum products, citing increased prices in the international market.
AP Photo/Binod Joshi) Sphere: Related Content
Nepal political parties to hold talks with rebels
23 Aug 2005 05:02:13 GMT
Source: ReutersKATHMANDU, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nepal's main political parties said on Tuesday they were preparing to talk to Maoist rebels to plan joint protests against King Gyanendra, reversing an earlier decision to shun the guerrillas. The decision by the seven parties came after Maoist leader Prachanda last month agreed to key conditions set by them. Prachanda promised that the rebels would not target unarmed civilians, stop extortion and urged the parties to name negotiators for talks on a united campaign against the king. "The parties will set up a team for meeting the Maoists in due course," Gopal Man Shrestha, chief of the third biggest group, Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, told Reuters. Shrestha was speaking on behalf of the seven parties which held talks among themselves late on Monday and agreed to discuss joining hands with the rebels to restore democracy after King Gyanendra's dismissed the government and took power in February. "The Maoists have made some positive gestures. We'll first set up a panel of distinguished citizens to monitor whether those promises were translated into practice or not," Shrestha said, referring to Prachanda's offer. He said the parties would try to convince the rebels to give up violence and join peaceful pro-democracy rallies. Seven political parties that controlled more than 190 seats in the 205-member parliament dissolved in 2002 have been protesting against Gyanendra's Feb. 1 sacking of the multi-party government and assumption of absolute power. The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to topple the Himalayan kingdom's constitutional monarchy and establish one-party communist rule. The king says his move to take power was prompted by the failure of squabbling parties to quell the increasingly deadly Maoist revolt in which more than 12,500 people have died. Violence has escalated despite his move. "The fact is neither the Maoists can win through violent means nor can the government crush the rebels militarily," Shrestha said. Nepal's key donors, including India, Britain and the United States, have urged the king to unite with political parties and restore democracy. But he is not close to any deal with the parties or the rebels. Sphere: Related Content
Monday, August 22, 2005
Nepal king tours rebel areas after landmine blast
22 Aug 2005 12:13:39 GMT
Source: Reuters 
PREVIOUS | NEXT
PREVIOUS | NEXT (Recasts with king's tour) KATHMANDU, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Maoist rebels blew up a police vehicle in western Nepal on Monday, killing four policemen, as King Gyanendra began a tour of an area further to the west, officials said. The Maoists, who have been fighting to replace the constitutional monarchy with a communist republic for the past nine years, set off a mine under the police vehicle near the town of Butwal, 300 km (185 miles) west of Kathmandu. "It was a big mine. The blast has caused a huge crater on the ground and the vehicle has broken into pieces," a police officer told Reuters by phone. A palace official said the king would spend a week touring areas in and around Kalikot, 600 km (375 miles) west of Kathmandu, where the army lost at least 55 soldiers in a fight with the Maoist rebels two weeks ago. It was the bloodiest clash between the two sides in the past one year. Twenty-six guerrillas died in the clash sparked by a rebel raid on an army base. The king was not scheduled to go to Butwal. "The objective of the visit is to assess the situation and meet the people," the official said, without giving details. Maoist violence has escalated in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom after King Gyanendra took control of the government nearly seven months ago, saying politicians had failed to tackle the insurgents. The rebels said they had captured 60 soldiers and a large arms cache after the Kalikot gunbattle on Aug. 7 and 8. The army said the soldiers were missing and troops were hunting for them. Nepal's leading human rights group, INSEC, said in a statement late on Sunday that 27 soldiers captured after that battle were safe in rebel custody, quoting a local journalist who had met the captives in a remote mountain village in west Nepal. It posted photographs on the Web site, www.inseconline.org, of the soldiers, some with bandages, but said nothing about the remaining soldiers. More than 12,500 people have been killed since the revolt began in 1996.
Sphere: Related Content
Source: Reuters
Nepali students shout slogans during a demonstration against the king and protest against the price hike on petroleum products, in Kathmandu, August 22, 2005.
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
PREVIOUS | NEXT Nepali students shout slogans during a demonstration against the king and protest against the price hike on petroleum products, in Kathmandu, August 22, 2005.
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
Nepali students throw stones during a demonstration against the king and protest against the price hike on petroleum products, in Kathmandu, August 22, 2005.
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
PREVIOUS | NEXT People watch as students take part in a demonstration against the king and protest against the price hike on petroleum products, in Kathmandu, August 22, 2005.
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
REUTERS/GOPAL CHITRAKAR
Friday, August 19, 2005
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepal rebels 'killed' in clashes
King GyanendraViolence has increased since
King Gyanendra assumed direct control
Government troops in Nepal have killed six Maoist rebels in clashes in a western district which left a soldier injured, officials say.
The clashes are said to have occurred during a search for rebels who took part in a deadly attack on an army camp in a neighbouring district last week.
At least 70 soldiers and rebels were killed in the clash.
It was some of the bloodiest fighting since King Gyanendra seized direct control of power in February.
In a separate incident, suspected rebels set off a home-made bomb in the residential complex of a royal adviser, Sachit Shumsher Rana, in the capital, Kathmandu.
The bomb caused minor damage and no has been hurt.
Clashes between rebels and government troops have increased since King Gyanendra assumed direct control of the country in February, saying politicians had failed to tackle the insurgency.
The clash earlier this week provoked the United States to warn Nepal's king to return the country to democracy or face a slide towards chaos.
About 12,000 people have died in the 10-year Maoist campaign which is aimed at replacing the monarchy with a communist republic. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Xinhua - English | Nepalese FM criticizes Western media's untrue report about Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-17 23:47:00
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey here Wednesday criticized some Western media's untrue report about Nepal, saying it has done harm to Nepal's investment environment.
Pandey made the remarks in his meeting with some Chinese entrepreneurs.He said the untrue report caused worry among potential investors about Nepal's business environment and security.
The fact is, Nepal has great potential for business, he said. Chinese companies can invest in Nepal's water and electricity resources, which can not only meet Nepal's domestic demands but also be exported to countries such as India and Bangladesh.
Besides, Nepal is rich in tourism resources, Pandey said, adding that his government welcomes both Chinese tourists and explorers of tourism resources.
He said that two air routes have been set up between Nepal and China, namely the one between Katmandu, capital of Nepal, and Shanghai, and the other one between Katmandu and Lhasa. He hopes the two countries will open more air routes between Katmandu and other Chinese cities at an early date, so as to promote bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and other fields.
"The Nepalese government will exert efforts to improve investment environment and protect Chinese businessmen's interestsin Nepal." Pandey said.
Pandey arrived here Sunday for an official visit as guest of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Enditem">Xinhua - English: "Nepalese FM criticizes Western media's untrue report about Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-17 23:47:00
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey here Wednesday criticized some Western media's untrue report about Nepal, saying it has done harm to Nepal's investment environment.
Pandey made the remarks in his meeting with some Chinese entrepreneurs.He said the untrue report caused worry among potential investors about Nepal's business environment and security.
The fact is, Nepal has great potential for business, he said. Chinese companies can invest in Nepal's water and electricity resources, which can not only meet Nepal's domestic demands but also be exported to countries such as India and Bangladesh.
Besides, Nepal is rich in tourism resources, Pandey said, adding that his government welcomes both Chinese tourists and explorers of tourism resources.
He said that two air routes have been set up between Nepal and China, namely the one between Katmandu, capital of Nepal, and Shanghai, and the other one between Katmandu and Lhasa. He hopes the two countries will open more air routes between Katmandu and other Chinese cities at an early date, so as to promote bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and other fields.
'The Nepalese government will exert efforts to improve investment environment and protect Chinese businessmen's interestsin Nepal.' Pandey said.
Pandey arrived here Sunday for an official visit as guest of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Enditem" Sphere: Related Content
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey here Wednesday criticized some Western media's untrue report about Nepal, saying it has done harm to Nepal's investment environment.
Pandey made the remarks in his meeting with some Chinese entrepreneurs.He said the untrue report caused worry among potential investors about Nepal's business environment and security.
The fact is, Nepal has great potential for business, he said. Chinese companies can invest in Nepal's water and electricity resources, which can not only meet Nepal's domestic demands but also be exported to countries such as India and Bangladesh.
Besides, Nepal is rich in tourism resources, Pandey said, adding that his government welcomes both Chinese tourists and explorers of tourism resources.
He said that two air routes have been set up between Nepal and China, namely the one between Katmandu, capital of Nepal, and Shanghai, and the other one between Katmandu and Lhasa. He hopes the two countries will open more air routes between Katmandu and other Chinese cities at an early date, so as to promote bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and other fields.
"The Nepalese government will exert efforts to improve investment environment and protect Chinese businessmen's interestsin Nepal." Pandey said.
Pandey arrived here Sunday for an official visit as guest of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Enditem">Xinhua - English: "Nepalese FM criticizes Western media's untrue report about Nepal
www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-17 23:47:00
BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey here Wednesday criticized some Western media's untrue report about Nepal, saying it has done harm to Nepal's investment environment.
Pandey made the remarks in his meeting with some Chinese entrepreneurs.He said the untrue report caused worry among potential investors about Nepal's business environment and security.
The fact is, Nepal has great potential for business, he said. Chinese companies can invest in Nepal's water and electricity resources, which can not only meet Nepal's domestic demands but also be exported to countries such as India and Bangladesh.
Besides, Nepal is rich in tourism resources, Pandey said, adding that his government welcomes both Chinese tourists and explorers of tourism resources.
He said that two air routes have been set up between Nepal and China, namely the one between Katmandu, capital of Nepal, and Shanghai, and the other one between Katmandu and Lhasa. He hopes the two countries will open more air routes between Katmandu and other Chinese cities at an early date, so as to promote bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and other fields.
'The Nepalese government will exert efforts to improve investment environment and protect Chinese businessmen's interestsin Nepal.' Pandey said.
Pandey arrived here Sunday for an official visit as guest of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. Enditem" Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Nepal rejects claim that French helicopter landed on top of Everest
17 August 2005 04:18
By Daniel Howden
Mountaineers in trouble high on Everest cannot expect rescue by air after the Nepalese government dismissed claims by Eurocopter that it had landed a helicopter on the summit.
Kathmandu has said it will report the French Eurocopter firm to the international aviation bodies after an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) concluded the Eurocopter story was false.
The French aviation firm claimed a world first in May, saying its aircraft had executed a successful landing and take-off from the 29,000ft peak of Everest. The Nepalese authorities said they had granted permission to Eurocopter to perform a test flight around Everest this year in the hope of getting positive publicity for the possibility of higher-altitude rescues. But they cited a written statement by the pilot, Didier Delsalle, saying that the helicopter had made an emergency landing a kilometre beneath the summit, at the South Col, due to bad weather. The French firm has yet to respond to the allegations that it had violated aviation guidelines.
Eurocopter's claims, made at a press conference in Paris, were taken so seriously that the support crew for the Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar, who was trapped for four days on the dangerous, unconquered Rupal face of the Himalayan mountain Nanga Parbat this month, considered delaying rescue attempts so the French aircraft could be brought in.
The climber was eventually plucked from a ledge on the ice wall at an altitude of about 20,000ft by a Pakistani army Lama helicopter in what is believed to be the highest rescue of its kind.
The number of climbers trying to reach the summit of Everest has risen sharply in recent years, with a consequent rise in the number of fatalities. Nearly 200 people have died on its slopes, with an average of 60 expeditions a year attempting the climb. Sphere: Related Content
By Daniel Howden
Mountaineers in trouble high on Everest cannot expect rescue by air after the Nepalese government dismissed claims by Eurocopter that it had landed a helicopter on the summit.
Kathmandu has said it will report the French Eurocopter firm to the international aviation bodies after an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) concluded the Eurocopter story was false.
The French aviation firm claimed a world first in May, saying its aircraft had executed a successful landing and take-off from the 29,000ft peak of Everest. The Nepalese authorities said they had granted permission to Eurocopter to perform a test flight around Everest this year in the hope of getting positive publicity for the possibility of higher-altitude rescues. But they cited a written statement by the pilot, Didier Delsalle, saying that the helicopter had made an emergency landing a kilometre beneath the summit, at the South Col, due to bad weather. The French firm has yet to respond to the allegations that it had violated aviation guidelines.
Eurocopter's claims, made at a press conference in Paris, were taken so seriously that the support crew for the Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar, who was trapped for four days on the dangerous, unconquered Rupal face of the Himalayan mountain Nanga Parbat this month, considered delaying rescue attempts so the French aircraft could be brought in.
The climber was eventually plucked from a ledge on the ice wall at an altitude of about 20,000ft by a Pakistani army Lama helicopter in what is believed to be the highest rescue of its kind.
The number of climbers trying to reach the summit of Everest has risen sharply in recent years, with a consequent rise in the number of fatalities. Nearly 200 people have died on its slopes, with an average of 60 expeditions a year attempting the climb. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
China pledges $12.3 million aid to Nepal: South Asia : Hindustan Times.com
Kathmandu, August 16, 2005|11:19 IST
China has pledged to bail out cash-strapped Nepal with an additional aid of $12.3 million, a rare gesture by Beijing that has no strings attached.
The agreement signed in Beijing between Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Nepalese counterpart Ramesh Nath Pandey is an additional string in the cap of the latter who is on a 11-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese government.
The aid comes in addition to the Nepalese Rs 800 million Beijing has committed to Nepal as annual development assistance and which can be used in any area Kathmandu wants, from buying arms to paying civil servants' salaries.
It comes at a time when the cash-strapped government headed by King Gyanendra is looking at an over 60 per cent increase in donor aid to meet its nearly Rs 15 billion budget deficit this fiscal.
On August 13, as Nepal celebrated the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic ties with China, King Gyanendra called Beijing the kingdom's 'all weather friend'.
The new aid will further cement ties between Nepal and its northern neighbour even as its relations with its southern neighbour India deteriorated further this month with the Royal Nepalese Army blaming Indian guns for its battle reverses with the Maoist guerrillas and New Delhi rebutting the allegation.
Both China and Nepal have also agreed to mutually waive visas for diplomats and government officials and allow multiple visas to businessmen. Currently, that is a friendship measure existing between India and Nepal. Nepalese need no visa or passport for going to India and residing there and vice versa.
China also agreed to allow Nepal to use its Tibet highway. With the Maoist insurgents often blocking highways in remote districts, Nepal's northernmost districts like Jumla and Humla, which lie next to the Tibetan border, face scarcity of food and essential goods.
According to the agreement with Beijing, now supplies can go from Kathmandu to Khasa on Nepal's side of the border, cross into Tibet and from there follow the Tibetan highway to reach Nepal's northern districts.
Besides the aid, China also made what is being seen as a symbolic gesture to show it was supporting King Gyanendra's government at a time several donor countries have distanced themselves from the regime.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who generally meets only visiting heads of state and the most powerful dignitaries like the US Secretary of State, on Tuesday met the Nepalese Foreign Minister to discuss bilateral issues. Sphere: Related Content
China has pledged to bail out cash-strapped Nepal with an additional aid of $12.3 million, a rare gesture by Beijing that has no strings attached.
The agreement signed in Beijing between Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Nepalese counterpart Ramesh Nath Pandey is an additional string in the cap of the latter who is on a 11-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese government.
The aid comes in addition to the Nepalese Rs 800 million Beijing has committed to Nepal as annual development assistance and which can be used in any area Kathmandu wants, from buying arms to paying civil servants' salaries.
It comes at a time when the cash-strapped government headed by King Gyanendra is looking at an over 60 per cent increase in donor aid to meet its nearly Rs 15 billion budget deficit this fiscal.
On August 13, as Nepal celebrated the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic ties with China, King Gyanendra called Beijing the kingdom's 'all weather friend'.
The new aid will further cement ties between Nepal and its northern neighbour even as its relations with its southern neighbour India deteriorated further this month with the Royal Nepalese Army blaming Indian guns for its battle reverses with the Maoist guerrillas and New Delhi rebutting the allegation.
Both China and Nepal have also agreed to mutually waive visas for diplomats and government officials and allow multiple visas to businessmen. Currently, that is a friendship measure existing between India and Nepal. Nepalese need no visa or passport for going to India and residing there and vice versa.
China also agreed to allow Nepal to use its Tibet highway. With the Maoist insurgents often blocking highways in remote districts, Nepal's northernmost districts like Jumla and Humla, which lie next to the Tibetan border, face scarcity of food and essential goods.
According to the agreement with Beijing, now supplies can go from Kathmandu to Khasa on Nepal's side of the border, cross into Tibet and from there follow the Tibetan highway to reach Nepal's northern districts.
Besides the aid, China also made what is being seen as a symbolic gesture to show it was supporting King Gyanendra's government at a time several donor countries have distanced themselves from the regime.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who generally meets only visiting heads of state and the most powerful dignitaries like the US Secretary of State, on Tuesday met the Nepalese Foreign Minister to discuss bilateral issues. Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Security forces kill 20 Maoists in Nepal: South Asia : Hindustan Times.com
Kathmandu, August 13, 2005|17:40 IST
Stepping up their anti-insurgency operation, Nepalese security forces have gunned down 20 Maoists after a rebel attack left one soldier dead and five injured in the southwest Nawalparasi district.
The incident occurred on Friday when the security forces were clearing obstacles placed by the Maoists in Chormara and Arunkhola areas along the highway in Nawalparasi, state-run The Rising Nepal reported, quoting security sources.
The troops were first attacked by the rebels who killed one soldier and injured five others. Retaliating, the security forces shot dead 20 rebels, the report said.
Meanwhile, 5,000 students have been deprived of their studies after the closure of 35 schools following the Maoist attack in Pilli area of Kalikot district, where 43 security personnel and 26 rebels were killed last week.
More than 400 children have been killed and over 20,000 displaced since the Maoists launched insurgency in 1996.
The European Union has expressed concern over the affect of the armed conflict on the Nepalese children.
Calling on the rebels to keep children out of the armed conflict, the EU has asked the government in a statement to ensure safety of the children and stressed for their rehabilitation." Sphere: Related Content
Stepping up their anti-insurgency operation, Nepalese security forces have gunned down 20 Maoists after a rebel attack left one soldier dead and five injured in the southwest Nawalparasi district.
The incident occurred on Friday when the security forces were clearing obstacles placed by the Maoists in Chormara and Arunkhola areas along the highway in Nawalparasi, state-run The Rising Nepal reported, quoting security sources.
The troops were first attacked by the rebels who killed one soldier and injured five others. Retaliating, the security forces shot dead 20 rebels, the report said.
Meanwhile, 5,000 students have been deprived of their studies after the closure of 35 schools following the Maoist attack in Pilli area of Kalikot district, where 43 security personnel and 26 rebels were killed last week.
More than 400 children have been killed and over 20,000 displaced since the Maoists launched insurgency in 1996.
The European Union has expressed concern over the affect of the armed conflict on the Nepalese children.
Calling on the rebels to keep children out of the armed conflict, the EU has asked the government in a statement to ensure safety of the children and stressed for their rehabilitation." Sphere: Related Content
Friday, August 12, 2005
Security Situation Worsens in Nepal - Los Angeles Times
1:12 AM PDT, August 12, 2005
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal -- The rebel victory appears to have been as unexpected as it was complete -- a battlefield win that has exposed the military weakness of Nepal's army and the political vulnerability of King Gyanendra's royal dictatorship.
Details of the assault are scant, but this much is known: the insurgents overran about 200 troops camped on a remote mountainside. At least 40 of the soldiers may have been executed. Dozens appear to have fled.
Days after Sunday's attack, the rebels' first major victory in months, the army has retaken the area around Tilli, about 340 miles northwest of Katmandu, and rescued some of the troops who fled. But the rebels say they are holding 50 soldiers prisoner, and even Nepalis who support the king say the attack was alarming.
"The king was the last hope for most of us, but if attacks like this continue there will be no future for Nepal," said Sharad Thapa, a government worker in the capital. "This is just terrible."
King Gyanendra seized power Feb. 1, saying that dismissing the democratically elected government and taking the reins himself was the only way to quash the insurgency. Nearly 12,000 people have been killed since the start of the rebellion in 1996.
The coup was condemned internationally, and major allies Britain, India and the United States suspended military aid.
At home, Nepalis were split -- there were a few ardent supporters of the stumbling politicians who King Gyanendra had usurped, but many people also distrusted the king.
Militarily, the king's move has produced mixed results. Attacks have dropped in larger towns, but little has changed in the countryside, where the rebels remain in control of large swaths of territory.
Sunday's attack, analysts and opposition leaders say, could seriously weaken the king.
Inderjit Rai, an independent political analyst in Katmandu, called it "a major blow to the government."
"It proves the security situation is still vulnerable in much of the country," he said. "If the government fails to take control of the security situation then they lose support from all the people."
"The attack has proved the king's claim of improved security to be nothing but hollow," said Ram Sharan Mahat of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest party.
The rebel leader who claims to have led the attack, a man known only as Prabhakar, said on the insurgent's Web site that the victory had "shaken the enemy," and proved that the guerillas could defeat the government on any battlefield. He said 26 rebel fighters were killed in the fighting.
The rebels have a strong presence across much of rural Nepal, particularly in areas where there are few military outposts, and they control much of the isolated mountainous region in the Himalayan nation's northwest and midwest.
While they are believed to have about 20,000 fighters, few observers believe they could defeat the king and take control of the nation.
So far, the king's main political opposition comes from political parties pressing to get back into power -- and not a popular movement like the one that forced the previous king, in 1990, to establish a democracy.
Some observers warn, however, that the incessant fighting between the palace and the political parties gives strength to the rebels.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, James Moriarty, said Tuesday that "the continuing divisions between the Palace and the political parties aid only the Maoists and their plans to turn Nepal into a brutal and anachronistic state."
"The people want reconciliation. They want peace. The way to achieve peace is with a democratic government united against the Maoist assault on Nepal," he said. Sphere: Related Content
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal -- The rebel victory appears to have been as unexpected as it was complete -- a battlefield win that has exposed the military weakness of Nepal's army and the political vulnerability of King Gyanendra's royal dictatorship.
Details of the assault are scant, but this much is known: the insurgents overran about 200 troops camped on a remote mountainside. At least 40 of the soldiers may have been executed. Dozens appear to have fled.
Days after Sunday's attack, the rebels' first major victory in months, the army has retaken the area around Tilli, about 340 miles northwest of Katmandu, and rescued some of the troops who fled. But the rebels say they are holding 50 soldiers prisoner, and even Nepalis who support the king say the attack was alarming.
"The king was the last hope for most of us, but if attacks like this continue there will be no future for Nepal," said Sharad Thapa, a government worker in the capital. "This is just terrible."
King Gyanendra seized power Feb. 1, saying that dismissing the democratically elected government and taking the reins himself was the only way to quash the insurgency. Nearly 12,000 people have been killed since the start of the rebellion in 1996.
The coup was condemned internationally, and major allies Britain, India and the United States suspended military aid.
At home, Nepalis were split -- there were a few ardent supporters of the stumbling politicians who King Gyanendra had usurped, but many people also distrusted the king.
Militarily, the king's move has produced mixed results. Attacks have dropped in larger towns, but little has changed in the countryside, where the rebels remain in control of large swaths of territory.
Sunday's attack, analysts and opposition leaders say, could seriously weaken the king.
Inderjit Rai, an independent political analyst in Katmandu, called it "a major blow to the government."
"It proves the security situation is still vulnerable in much of the country," he said. "If the government fails to take control of the security situation then they lose support from all the people."
"The attack has proved the king's claim of improved security to be nothing but hollow," said Ram Sharan Mahat of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest party.
The rebel leader who claims to have led the attack, a man known only as Prabhakar, said on the insurgent's Web site that the victory had "shaken the enemy," and proved that the guerillas could defeat the government on any battlefield. He said 26 rebel fighters were killed in the fighting.
The rebels have a strong presence across much of rural Nepal, particularly in areas where there are few military outposts, and they control much of the isolated mountainous region in the Himalayan nation's northwest and midwest.
While they are believed to have about 20,000 fighters, few observers believe they could defeat the king and take control of the nation.
So far, the king's main political opposition comes from political parties pressing to get back into power -- and not a popular movement like the one that forced the previous king, in 1990, to establish a democracy.
Some observers warn, however, that the incessant fighting between the palace and the political parties gives strength to the rebels.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, James Moriarty, said Tuesday that "the continuing divisions between the Palace and the political parties aid only the Maoists and their plans to turn Nepal into a brutal and anachronistic state."
"The people want reconciliation. They want peace. The way to achieve peace is with a democratic government united against the Maoist assault on Nepal," he said. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Xinhua - English | 10 more bodies of security personnel discovered in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Aug. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepali security forces said Wednesday they have discovered 10 more bodies of security personnel killed in the overnight battle with the anti-government guerrillas at the Pili base camp in mid-western Nepal on Sunday. With this, the total number of security personnel killed in the clashes at Pili has reached 50.
On Sunday evening, the guerrillas launched an offensive against the security forces stationed at the Pili base camp in Pakha village, the headquarters of Kalikot district, some 700 km west of Kathmandu, Royal Nepalese Army's Directorate of Public Relation said in a statement.
Over 50 soldiers were taken under control by the guerrillas following the overnight clashes, and Chairman of the Nepali anti-government guerrillas Prachanda Wednesday assured of releasing all the captive soldiers.
A senior guerrilla leader Prabhaker admitted that 22 guerrillas were killed and 45 others injured during the clashes. More than 1,200 additional troops who were deployed from neighboring districts on Monday reached the clash site on Tuesday morning, RNA noted.
Security forces on Tuesday cordoned off entry points of Bajura, Jumla and Dailekh districts to hunt for the guerrillas and more troops have been mobilized at the clash site, according to RNA. Some 200 security personnel were stationed at the base camp at Pakha village established a month ago for the construction of the Surkhet-Jumla road section of the Karnali Highway." Sphere: Related Content
On Sunday evening, the guerrillas launched an offensive against the security forces stationed at the Pili base camp in Pakha village, the headquarters of Kalikot district, some 700 km west of Kathmandu, Royal Nepalese Army's Directorate of Public Relation said in a statement.
Over 50 soldiers were taken under control by the guerrillas following the overnight clashes, and Chairman of the Nepali anti-government guerrillas Prachanda Wednesday assured of releasing all the captive soldiers.
A senior guerrilla leader Prabhaker admitted that 22 guerrillas were killed and 45 others injured during the clashes. More than 1,200 additional troops who were deployed from neighboring districts on Monday reached the clash site on Tuesday morning, RNA noted.
Security forces on Tuesday cordoned off entry points of Bajura, Jumla and Dailekh districts to hunt for the guerrillas and more troops have been mobilized at the clash site, according to RNA. Some 200 security personnel were stationed at the base camp at Pakha village established a month ago for the construction of the Surkhet-Jumla road section of the Karnali Highway." Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Nepal attack exposes Gyanendra
Despite the King’s pledge of maintaining peace and security in the country, the law and order situation is turning from bad to worse except in Kathmandu
THE killing of at least 40 Nepalese soldiers in the deadliest attack since King Gyanendra seized power in February has exposed his pledge to put down a violent Maoist rebellion, analysts said on Wednesday.
The soldiers were lined up and shot in the head after an attack on an army camp near the northwestern town of Kalikot, according to the army, which said another 75 servicemen are missing. The rebels say 26 of their fighters were killed.
It was the worst incident since the Maoists, whose battle for a communist republic has claimed 12,000 lives in the past nine years, killed 36 people by bombing a crowded bus in June.“Excepting for Kathmandu, the Maoists are showing their muscle everywhere,” said Mahendra Prasad Bhusan, political professor at Tribhuvan University here.
“They have challenged the army by attacking (their camp),” he added, referring to Sunday’s assault.
Gyanendra sacked a four-party coalition government on February 1, pledging to restore security and improve services in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
The move drew sharp condemnation from around the world and isolated Nepal diplomatically, with India, Britain and the United States reviewing supplies of military and humanitarian aid.
US ambassador James Moriarty warned on Tuesday that Nepal risked sliding into chaos unless the king re-establishes democracy and restores civil rights.
“Unless the principles of freedom, civil rights, and democracy once again take root through a process of true reconciliation among the legitimate political forces, I fear Nepal will inexorably slide towards confrontation, confusion and chaos,” Moriarty said.
“The continuing divisions between the royal palace and the political parties aid only the Maoist rebels and their plan to turn Nepal into a brutal and anachronistic state.”
Bhusan said Gyanendra had not made good on his promises and that the Maoists looked stronger than ever. He warned the monarchy itself was at risk and that Nepal was in danger of becoming a failed state.
“If the King does not reform his policy and establish democracy, it may create a grave situation. (He) has to act seriously and thoughtfully otherwise a situation will evolve in Nepal which may sweep away the monarchy itself,” Bhusan said.
Political analyst and professor Lok Raj Baral also believes security is deteriorating in the Hindu kingdom.
“Despite the king’s pledge of maintaining peace and security in the country, (the) law and order situation is turning from bad to worse except in Kathmandu,” Baral told AFP earlier this month.
President of the human rights group Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) Subodh Raj Pyakurel said Gyanendra had failed in every aspect since he took over the administration.
“The law and order situation in the country has been very badly affected as the Maoists have begun to spread everywhere, showing their muscles,” Pyakurel said.
“It seems the Maoists are in (even) stronger position after attacking the security men at Kalikot,” he said.
The Maoist attack came after Gyanendra’s recent claim that the insurgency had been curtailed. Information and Communications Minister Tanka Dhakal said just days ago that the Maoists would soon be “crushed”.
“The position of security has been strengthened and Maoists have been weakened and are in process of being crushed soon,” he said.
More than six months after the king took power, pro-democracy protests continue almost daily, Nepal’s once vibrant media remains under stringent censorship and political opponents including the deposed prime minister are in jail. “The people’s human rights have been grossly violated, the people’s insecurity is increasing, the health services, education and national economy have been badly affected,” Pyakurel said. “These developments have forced the people to lose confidence in the state as the king is not doing what he commented publicly,” he said. Sphere: Related Content
THE killing of at least 40 Nepalese soldiers in the deadliest attack since King Gyanendra seized power in February has exposed his pledge to put down a violent Maoist rebellion, analysts said on Wednesday.
The soldiers were lined up and shot in the head after an attack on an army camp near the northwestern town of Kalikot, according to the army, which said another 75 servicemen are missing. The rebels say 26 of their fighters were killed.
It was the worst incident since the Maoists, whose battle for a communist republic has claimed 12,000 lives in the past nine years, killed 36 people by bombing a crowded bus in June.“Excepting for Kathmandu, the Maoists are showing their muscle everywhere,” said Mahendra Prasad Bhusan, political professor at Tribhuvan University here.
“They have challenged the army by attacking (their camp),” he added, referring to Sunday’s assault.
Gyanendra sacked a four-party coalition government on February 1, pledging to restore security and improve services in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
The move drew sharp condemnation from around the world and isolated Nepal diplomatically, with India, Britain and the United States reviewing supplies of military and humanitarian aid.
US ambassador James Moriarty warned on Tuesday that Nepal risked sliding into chaos unless the king re-establishes democracy and restores civil rights.
“Unless the principles of freedom, civil rights, and democracy once again take root through a process of true reconciliation among the legitimate political forces, I fear Nepal will inexorably slide towards confrontation, confusion and chaos,” Moriarty said.
“The continuing divisions between the royal palace and the political parties aid only the Maoist rebels and their plan to turn Nepal into a brutal and anachronistic state.”
Bhusan said Gyanendra had not made good on his promises and that the Maoists looked stronger than ever. He warned the monarchy itself was at risk and that Nepal was in danger of becoming a failed state.
“If the King does not reform his policy and establish democracy, it may create a grave situation. (He) has to act seriously and thoughtfully otherwise a situation will evolve in Nepal which may sweep away the monarchy itself,” Bhusan said.
Political analyst and professor Lok Raj Baral also believes security is deteriorating in the Hindu kingdom.
“Despite the king’s pledge of maintaining peace and security in the country, (the) law and order situation is turning from bad to worse except in Kathmandu,” Baral told AFP earlier this month.
President of the human rights group Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) Subodh Raj Pyakurel said Gyanendra had failed in every aspect since he took over the administration.
“The law and order situation in the country has been very badly affected as the Maoists have begun to spread everywhere, showing their muscles,” Pyakurel said.
“It seems the Maoists are in (even) stronger position after attacking the security men at Kalikot,” he said.
The Maoist attack came after Gyanendra’s recent claim that the insurgency had been curtailed. Information and Communications Minister Tanka Dhakal said just days ago that the Maoists would soon be “crushed”.
“The position of security has been strengthened and Maoists have been weakened and are in process of being crushed soon,” he said.
More than six months after the king took power, pro-democracy protests continue almost daily, Nepal’s once vibrant media remains under stringent censorship and political opponents including the deposed prime minister are in jail. “The people’s human rights have been grossly violated, the people’s insecurity is increasing, the health services, education and national economy have been badly affected,” Pyakurel said. “These developments have forced the people to lose confidence in the state as the king is not doing what he commented publicly,” he said. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Nepal's Human Rights Record Threatens Military Aid - New York Times
Desmond Boylan/Reuters
King Gyanendra seized absolute power in Katmandu in order,
he said, to fight the country's Maoist insurgency.
he said, to fight the country's Maoist insurgency.
Nepal's Human Rights Record Threatens Military Aid
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: August 9, 2005
KATMANDU, Nepal, Aug. 5 - When a firebrand student leader went to visit his friends in jail here last week, he, too, found himself arrested by the police and locked up on a charge of sedition.
Antigovernment protests in Katmandu have grown more strident recently, with students stoning the police and demanding the king's ouster.
King Gyanendra seized absolute power in Katmandu in order, he said, to fight the country's Maoist insurgency.
When a political prisoner was freed by a court order in the town of Nepalganj in June, plainclothes police officers immediately plucked him from the courthouse steps.
And after two Nepalese newspaper journalists wrote last month about the army's deploying children as informers against suspected Maoist guerrillas, they were summoned to the army barracks for questioning.
Such incidents are not only measures of life and law in a country squeezed between its all-powerful Hindu king and the nine-year-long Maoist insurgency he has failed to quell. They are also of creeping importance to American lawmakers.
Before a new round of American military aid can start flowing to this troubled Himalayan kingdom, Congress has said it must be convinced that Nepal's ruler, King Gyanendra, can guarantee basic human rights. The Bush administration can override that condition if it determines that there is a national security imperative for Nepal to get the aid.
An administration decision is expected in the coming weeks, and whichever way the president goes is likely to be read throughout this region as an important barometer of White House priorities.
Nepal has functioned as an absolute monarchy since October 2002, when King Gyanendra dismissed the elected government on the ground that it had proved ineffective and corrupt. Last Feb. 1, he ratcheted his control up another notch, imposing emergency rule, arresting hundreds of political party members and suspending press and civil liberties.
Emergency rule has since been lifted, but many restrictions remain. This week, for instance, the government demanded to know why news broadcasts had resumed on a private FM radio station, in contravention of the Feb. 1 order.
The measures have proved increasingly unpopular. In Katmandu, the capital, what began as mild protests against the Feb. 1 royal decree have become more violent and outspoken. In recent weeks stone-throwing student demonstrators who call openly for the overthrow of the monarchy have tussled regularly with police officers wearing blue fatigues and carrying riot shields.
Chants during the protests have turned strikingly audacious. "Gyanay Chor, Desh Chhod," goes one popular cry. Using a diminutive form of his name, it calls the king a thief and urges him to leave.
Despite the Feb. 1 order, journalists frequently defy the curbs against independent reporting on the conflict. Political cartoons take pot shots at the king.
"People hoped and believed he had a plan," Kanak Mani Dixit, one of the country's most respected journalists, said in an interview here. "I said he has made a major mistake, but he will be forgiven if he has a plan. But nothing has happened." The king's latest steps were controversial even beyond Nepal and have been accompanied by what his critics see as a steady deterioration of civil liberties as the king struggles to turn back a widening insurgency that has fed off this country's poverty and caste divisions.
The American law threatening the loss of military aid, passed by the United States Congress last year, was prompted by Nepal's unenviable human rights distinction: during the past two years, the largest number of new cases of disappeared persons reported to the United Nations came from here.
Some of the missing reappear after courts take up habeas corpus petitions; those who are suspected of being Maoists or their sympathizers can be locked away without charges for up to a year under Nepal's antiterror laws.
The conditions for restoring full American military aid range from whether law enforcement authorities obey court orders on prisoner releases, to whether steps are taken to end torture by security forces, to whether the government allows the National Human Rights Commission to function freely.
Neither the United States Embassy here in Katmandu nor officials at the State Department in Washington agreed to comment on the record about whether Nepal had sufficiently complied with those conditions. In the past, American officials have urged the king to reconcile his differences with the political parties and take steps to return to democracy.
Before dispatching new aid, Congress has said it must be convinced that Nepal's ruler can guarantee basic human rights. Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, August 07, 2005
HoustonChronicle.com - Political crisis, fear grip Nepal
Five months after a coup, the king is no closer to a deal with rebels or political parties
By TERRY FRIEL
Reuters News Service
KATMANDU - It's an hour before midnight and the Go Go Bar is packed with the boisterous sons of Nepal's new middle class stuffing cash into dancers' panties.
Katmandu is humming, its young people spending big on drugs, disco and drink.
But while the capital parties, Nepal is paralyzed by a political crisis and an increasingly bloody Maoist rebellion aiming to oust King Gyanendra, who seized power in February, ending 15 years of democracy.
'Nobody knows what will happen — a kind of terror still exists,' says human rights campaigner Krishna Pahadi, freed this month after being held for 143 days in a police camp. 'There is a climate of fear. The rule of law is totally demolished.'
Gyanendra said he was forced to take over because the politicians were incapable of quelling the Maoists' 'People's War,' which has killed at least 12,500 people since 1996. But five months on, he is no closer to a deal with the guerrillas or with the seven mainstream political parties.
The political parties are slowly forming a united front and appear to be moving closer to the Maoists.
'The two (parties and rebels) coming together would build up pressure on the king,' says S.D. Muni, a South Asia expert at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. 'Either he makes compromises, or if he does not, then I think Nepal will see a lot of turmoil in coming years.'
But analysts expect no real breakthrough for at least three to four months, when the parties can organize protests after the monsoon and crop-sowing season. The parties have so far failed to rally popular support against the king, despite his increasing unpopularity.
Even before the Feb. 1 royal coup, the Hindu kingdom, one of the world's poorest nations had seen remarkable political instability, with 14 prime ministers in under 15 years.
In fact, for hundreds of years, it has seen bizarre power plays, murder, exile and takeovers between royalty and the upper caste Brahmins and Chettriyas who dominate the still largely feudal country.
Parliament has been dissolved since 2002, when Nepal was supposed to prepare for elections. Gyanendra sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to hold them.
The palace says Gyanendra is popular and adored, but many Nepalis are suspicious of the way he came to power, after his brother, King Birendra, and several other members of the royal family were gunned down by the then-crown prince in 2001. Sphere: Related Content
By TERRY FRIEL
Reuters News Service
KATMANDU - It's an hour before midnight and the Go Go Bar is packed with the boisterous sons of Nepal's new middle class stuffing cash into dancers' panties.
Katmandu is humming, its young people spending big on drugs, disco and drink.
But while the capital parties, Nepal is paralyzed by a political crisis and an increasingly bloody Maoist rebellion aiming to oust King Gyanendra, who seized power in February, ending 15 years of democracy.
'Nobody knows what will happen — a kind of terror still exists,' says human rights campaigner Krishna Pahadi, freed this month after being held for 143 days in a police camp. 'There is a climate of fear. The rule of law is totally demolished.'
Gyanendra said he was forced to take over because the politicians were incapable of quelling the Maoists' 'People's War,' which has killed at least 12,500 people since 1996. But five months on, he is no closer to a deal with the guerrillas or with the seven mainstream political parties.
The political parties are slowly forming a united front and appear to be moving closer to the Maoists.
'The two (parties and rebels) coming together would build up pressure on the king,' says S.D. Muni, a South Asia expert at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. 'Either he makes compromises, or if he does not, then I think Nepal will see a lot of turmoil in coming years.'
But analysts expect no real breakthrough for at least three to four months, when the parties can organize protests after the monsoon and crop-sowing season. The parties have so far failed to rally popular support against the king, despite his increasing unpopularity.
Even before the Feb. 1 royal coup, the Hindu kingdom, one of the world's poorest nations had seen remarkable political instability, with 14 prime ministers in under 15 years.
In fact, for hundreds of years, it has seen bizarre power plays, murder, exile and takeovers between royalty and the upper caste Brahmins and Chettriyas who dominate the still largely feudal country.
Parliament has been dissolved since 2002, when Nepal was supposed to prepare for elections. Gyanendra sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to hold them.
The palace says Gyanendra is popular and adored, but many Nepalis are suspicious of the way he came to power, after his brother, King Birendra, and several other members of the royal family were gunned down by the then-crown prince in 2001. Sphere: Related Content
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Top News Article | Reuters.com | Family searches for Texan hiker missing in Nepal
Thu Aug 4, 2005 7:26 AM ET
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The family of a 25-year-old American hiker missing in Nepal for two weeks stepped up their search for him around Mount Everest Thursday after making an emotional appeal for information.
Trevor Stokol went missing on July 22 while trekking near Everest base camp. Thursday, a helicopter will make a second aerial search of the area, and drop supplies for a team of trackers led by an Australian search and rescue expert.
'We have not given up hope. We need your help,' his father, Arnold Stokol, told reporters Wednesday.
Members of the Stokol family came to Nepal to coordinate the search after being told by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu that he had disappeared.
So far the search party has found no trace of Trevor in the beautiful but rugged Khumbhu region, where the 8,850-meter (29,035 feet) summit of Everest is located.
Arnold, an optician from Dallas, Texas, appealed to locals, to keep an eye out for their son.
Trevor, who was on the final leg of an eight-month tour of South and Southeast Asia before going to medical school in Dallas, had phoned his family before setting off for the 5,350 meter (17,650 feet) Everest base camp.
'He was extremely, extremely excited about the final leg of his trip and returning to his family and dog,' said the 53-year-old Arnold, holding photographs showing his son with curly brown hair and a full beard.
Every year thousands of foreigners visit Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains. A total of 185 mountaineers have died on the slopes of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak.
Arnold said his son, an enthusiastic photographer, was extremely strong, tenacious and had excellent survival skills.
'It is possible that he got disoriented as a result of altitude sickness or hypothermia and has wandered down the valley,' he said.
"It is also possible that he is injured and immobilized at any location, either near the area where he was last seen or further down the mountain."
Trevor was carrying a camera, some snack food and a bottle of water when he went missing after leaving his hiking companion behind.
Arnold said he thought it unlikely that Maoist guerrillas, active throughout the Nepali countryside, had abducted his son. Maoists do collect money from foreign trekkers as "tax" but have so far not harmed or captured any foreign tourists.
Arnold said a fund had been set up in the United States to help pay for the search. Sphere: Related Content
By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The family of a 25-year-old American hiker missing in Nepal for two weeks stepped up their search for him around Mount Everest Thursday after making an emotional appeal for information.
Trevor Stokol went missing on July 22 while trekking near Everest base camp. Thursday, a helicopter will make a second aerial search of the area, and drop supplies for a team of trackers led by an Australian search and rescue expert.
'We have not given up hope. We need your help,' his father, Arnold Stokol, told reporters Wednesday.
Members of the Stokol family came to Nepal to coordinate the search after being told by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu that he had disappeared.
So far the search party has found no trace of Trevor in the beautiful but rugged Khumbhu region, where the 8,850-meter (29,035 feet) summit of Everest is located.
Arnold, an optician from Dallas, Texas, appealed to locals, to keep an eye out for their son.
Trevor, who was on the final leg of an eight-month tour of South and Southeast Asia before going to medical school in Dallas, had phoned his family before setting off for the 5,350 meter (17,650 feet) Everest base camp.
'He was extremely, extremely excited about the final leg of his trip and returning to his family and dog,' said the 53-year-old Arnold, holding photographs showing his son with curly brown hair and a full beard.
Every year thousands of foreigners visit Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains. A total of 185 mountaineers have died on the slopes of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak.
Arnold said his son, an enthusiastic photographer, was extremely strong, tenacious and had excellent survival skills.
'It is possible that he got disoriented as a result of altitude sickness or hypothermia and has wandered down the valley,' he said.
"It is also possible that he is injured and immobilized at any location, either near the area where he was last seen or further down the mountain."
Trevor was carrying a camera, some snack food and a bottle of water when he went missing after leaving his hiking companion behind.
Arnold said he thought it unlikely that Maoist guerrillas, active throughout the Nepali countryside, had abducted his son. Maoists do collect money from foreign trekkers as "tax" but have so far not harmed or captured any foreign tourists.
Arnold said a fund had been set up in the United States to help pay for the search. Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Saving Nepal's Rhinos, One Truckload at a Time
Captured and tranquilized rhino in a wooden cage(Photo courtesy Dhruba Basnet)
By Deepak Gajurel
KATHMANDU, Nepal, August 2, 2005 (ENS) - A darting expert shoots a male rhino and the two ton animal falls unconscious in Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park. A dozen people hoist the sleeping rhino onto a sledge and then into a wooden cage fitted on a truck.
The process goes on until the desired number of rhinos is captured and the trucks head for Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in western Nepal.
The Asian one-horned rhino is a critically endangered species, and Nepal has second largest herd in the world. Rhino conservation is not an easy task, and translocation of the animals to populate another park is regarded as one of the best options to sustain the rhino population.
More than 100 experts, technicians and wildlife workers are engaged in the operation. A dozen domesticated elephants are used to comb the grasslands in Royal Chitwan National Park. From dawn to dusk the elephants and their human companions search for rhinos, combing the grasslands where grasses and weeds stand up to 10 meter (33 foot) high.
When rhinos are sighted, the workers drive them towards safe land for darting. Experts dart them, take necessary measurements of the unconscious rhinos, put them in a cage and then onto a truck, and transport them to a new destination for release into the wild.
Translocation of the rhinos to Bardia has helped reduce pressure on habitat in Royal Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This will decrease the possibility of potentially damaging human-rhino conflicts that arise when foraging rhinos stray into farmlands surrounding the park, say officials at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
Establishing new viable rhino populations in Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve is the main goal of the rhino translocation.
"It is important to conserve the endangered species from any natural and other disasters by developing viable populations in Royal Bardia National Park and Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve," says Narayan Sharma Paudel, deputy director of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC).
Repeated incidents of rhino-human conflict pressured officials and conservationists to brainstorm a sustainable solution. Translocation of rhinos was one of the answers.
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation is supported by WWF Nepal program for the costly process of rhino translocation. "We have been providing technical as well as financial supports for rhino translocation,"says Dr. Chandra Prasad Gurung, WWF Nepal country representative.
Captured and tranquilized rhino in a wooden cage (Photo courtesy Dhruba Basnet)
Nepal is planning to translocate more rhinos from Chitwan to Bardia this year, DNPWC officials say, because past translocations have been successful.
"From the suitability point of view, rhinos taken to Royal Bardia National Park earlier have already given birth. This has proven that they can live there sustainably," says Dr. Mukesh Chalise, professor of biology at Tribhuwan University .
The translocation could have continental as well as global significance. In 1998, the Asian Rhino Action Plan emphasized preservation and increase in the number of animals and sanctuaries wherever possible.
Nepal's rhino conservation efforts have been applauded abroad. DNPWC officials say that the Asian Rhino Specialists Group's meeting held in Indian State of Assam in 1999 praised Nepal for rhino conservation efforts and encourage maintainance of viable rhino populations in their old habitats as well as the new ones.
A founding population of 13 rhinos was introduced from Royal Chitwan National Park to Royal Bardia National Park in 1986. Most of the translocated females conceived shortly after they were taken from Chitwan, indicating their acceptance of their new habitat.
In 1991, 25 rhinos were translocated to the Babai Valley in the northeastern part of Royal Bardia National Park. During the last translocation in April 2003, 10 rhinos, seven wearing radio collars, were released across the Babai Valley.
Since 1986, a total of 83 rhinos have been translocated to Royal Bardia National Park and four to Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve from Royal Chitwan National Park, according to figures at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
Nepal formally started wildlife conservation after the establishment of Royal Chitwan National Park in 1972, when only 70 to 80 one-horned rhinos roamed the forests and grasslands of Chitwan.
Success of the effort was evident and conservation officials were pleased. The rhino count of 2000 found 544 rhinos in Chitwan, and a bonus herd of 67 rhinos in the Royal Bardia National Park.
Experts said then that Nepal's rhino population was increasing at the rate of 3.88 percent a year.
But this encouraging trend was shattered during this year's rhino census. Experts found only 372 rhinos in Chitwan, down 172 animals in five years.
Some of the Chitwan rhinos died when their habitat was destroyed, and others met their deaths at the hands of poachers. Raw rhino horn and rhino horn powder are worth far more than their weight in gold for the Asian medicinal trade. Sphere: Related Content
Monday, August 01, 2005
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Battle in Nepal's schoolrooms
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Salyan district, western Nepal
Nepal's Maoist insurgency has been fought across the country with skirmishes reported nearly every day. But now it has also entered the classroom, affecting schools, teachers and pupils.
This is an ideological as well as a physical battle. The Maoists, said to control over two-thirds of rural Nepal, regularly order school closures and bomb educational institutions.
They also say they want to remove class privilege from schooling - while the royal-led government tries to make the syllabus more pro-monarchy.
The rebels have just finished training the first batch of teachers to introduce what they call a new revolutionary syllabus, 'pro-people education', into Maoist-controlled schools.
The BBC was given access to them at a secret location in Salyan district, several days walk from the nearest significant road.
The old educational system is a farce - it's all about praising kings and gods
At dawn in this rebel hideout in the hills, drizzly clouds cap the peaks and women plant rice seedlings far below.
Twenty-four trainee teachers perform their daily drill, to the commands of a Maoist soldier: knee-flexing, eye-rolling, jumping and more, capped by the Maoist greeting 'Lal Salaam!' (Red Salute).
Ranging from their 20s to their 40s, the trainees come from villages across Nepal's three most Maoist-dominated districts. Some were already teachers under the traditional system; all say they are now committed to the Maoists.
They are spending a month here and will work as volunteers when they return home to bring this new syllabus to some of the 40-odd schools the Maoists now run in Nepal.
After a simple communal breakfast, each person does his or her own washing-up.
Soon they are sitting cross-legged on the floor in a mud house, training to teach a maths lesson with a difference. The instructor is using graphs - to show the types of weapons seized by a Maoist attack last year.
'Benefit of the poor'
There are other sessions like military science - how to protect your school if it is attacked.
Children in Nepal Maoists schools
The Maoists say their education syllabus is practical
The trainees will soon be teaching this to children as young as six.
"The old educational system is a farce - it's all about praising kings and gods," says 36-year-old Rajan Roka.
"Our new system is practical - if you want to do farming, it helps you do farming. It's about making a community without class or caste.
"I used to earn 5,000 rupees a month as a teacher," says 42-year-old Bimala Sharma. "Now I'm teaching pro-people education I get no money, but I'm happy because the lessons are completely for the benefit of the poor."
Some trainees, like Bimala, say they became committed Maoists because they were victimised by the army. Others may have been pressured into taking up the ideology, but it is impossible to tell.
The Maoists are only slowly introducing their methods.
Just up from the training site, local children still go to an ordinary school, packed into classrooms. Traditional lessons are still taught; the rebels have not yet imposed their system here, or in most of Nepal's 19,000 primary schools.
This year's exam results were terrible. The teachers said it was because of these constant abductions
Hari Gautam,
district education officer
But schools are now a crucial element in their battle to control society. They want to spread their philosophy - and where they control territory, it should not be hard for them to do so.
In the headquarters of neighbouring Rolpa district, the government's district education officer, Hari Gautam, is concerned. He says the rebels forcibly abduct pupils and teachers for days, to attend indoctrination sessions.
"Here and all over Nepal, the Maoists take teachers and students away from their schools," he says.
"This year's exam results were terrible. The teachers said it was because of these constant abductions. But they're also terrified officials will punish them if they admit attending Maoist programmes."
The rebels are also notorious for ordering schools to close, such as private or foreign-owned ones, or bombing them.
The Royal Nepalese Army sets up barracks in schools. They arrest any children who express the slightest support for us
At a Maoist political show in rural Rolpa, I put it to their senior education official, Comrade Santosh, that the guerrillas were hurting society's most vulnerable targets. He instead blamed the government side.
"The Royal Nepalese Army sets up barracks in schools," he says. "They arrest any children who express the slightest support for us."
He admitted there have been military clashes near schools, even that "some students fear us a little". But, he said, "we've never initiated violence in such places".
The army does indeed use some schools as barracks. A school in eastern Nepal was recently destroyed after heavy fighting there.
But Hari Gautam says Maoist actions in particular have created deep fear.
"Parents tell me how frightened they are about their children's safety," he says.
"They worry - will our children come home after school? Will they be bombed or taken away, or get caught in military clashes? Children in school suffer psychological terror."
The Maoists, however, see schools as a laboratory for their revolution. They have begun with just a committed few, but their intention seems clear: to impose their strongly militaristic schooling on more and more people. Sphere: Related Content
BBC News, Salyan district, western Nepal
Nepal's Maoist insurgency has been fought across the country with skirmishes reported nearly every day. But now it has also entered the classroom, affecting schools, teachers and pupils.
This is an ideological as well as a physical battle. The Maoists, said to control over two-thirds of rural Nepal, regularly order school closures and bomb educational institutions.
They also say they want to remove class privilege from schooling - while the royal-led government tries to make the syllabus more pro-monarchy.
The rebels have just finished training the first batch of teachers to introduce what they call a new revolutionary syllabus, 'pro-people education', into Maoist-controlled schools.
The BBC was given access to them at a secret location in Salyan district, several days walk from the nearest significant road.
The old educational system is a farce - it's all about praising kings and gods
At dawn in this rebel hideout in the hills, drizzly clouds cap the peaks and women plant rice seedlings far below.
Twenty-four trainee teachers perform their daily drill, to the commands of a Maoist soldier: knee-flexing, eye-rolling, jumping and more, capped by the Maoist greeting 'Lal Salaam!' (Red Salute).
Ranging from their 20s to their 40s, the trainees come from villages across Nepal's three most Maoist-dominated districts. Some were already teachers under the traditional system; all say they are now committed to the Maoists.
They are spending a month here and will work as volunteers when they return home to bring this new syllabus to some of the 40-odd schools the Maoists now run in Nepal.
After a simple communal breakfast, each person does his or her own washing-up.
Soon they are sitting cross-legged on the floor in a mud house, training to teach a maths lesson with a difference. The instructor is using graphs - to show the types of weapons seized by a Maoist attack last year.
'Benefit of the poor'
There are other sessions like military science - how to protect your school if it is attacked.
Children in Nepal Maoists schools
The Maoists say their education syllabus is practical
The trainees will soon be teaching this to children as young as six.
"The old educational system is a farce - it's all about praising kings and gods," says 36-year-old Rajan Roka.
"Our new system is practical - if you want to do farming, it helps you do farming. It's about making a community without class or caste.
"I used to earn 5,000 rupees a month as a teacher," says 42-year-old Bimala Sharma. "Now I'm teaching pro-people education I get no money, but I'm happy because the lessons are completely for the benefit of the poor."
Some trainees, like Bimala, say they became committed Maoists because they were victimised by the army. Others may have been pressured into taking up the ideology, but it is impossible to tell.
The Maoists are only slowly introducing their methods.
Just up from the training site, local children still go to an ordinary school, packed into classrooms. Traditional lessons are still taught; the rebels have not yet imposed their system here, or in most of Nepal's 19,000 primary schools.
This year's exam results were terrible. The teachers said it was because of these constant abductions
Hari Gautam,
district education officer
But schools are now a crucial element in their battle to control society. They want to spread their philosophy - and where they control territory, it should not be hard for them to do so.
In the headquarters of neighbouring Rolpa district, the government's district education officer, Hari Gautam, is concerned. He says the rebels forcibly abduct pupils and teachers for days, to attend indoctrination sessions.
"Here and all over Nepal, the Maoists take teachers and students away from their schools," he says.
"This year's exam results were terrible. The teachers said it was because of these constant abductions. But they're also terrified officials will punish them if they admit attending Maoist programmes."
The rebels are also notorious for ordering schools to close, such as private or foreign-owned ones, or bombing them.
The Royal Nepalese Army sets up barracks in schools. They arrest any children who express the slightest support for us
At a Maoist political show in rural Rolpa, I put it to their senior education official, Comrade Santosh, that the guerrillas were hurting society's most vulnerable targets. He instead blamed the government side.
"The Royal Nepalese Army sets up barracks in schools," he says. "They arrest any children who express the slightest support for us."
He admitted there have been military clashes near schools, even that "some students fear us a little". But, he said, "we've never initiated violence in such places".
The army does indeed use some schools as barracks. A school in eastern Nepal was recently destroyed after heavy fighting there.
But Hari Gautam says Maoist actions in particular have created deep fear.
"Parents tell me how frightened they are about their children's safety," he says.
"They worry - will our children come home after school? Will they be bombed or taken away, or get caught in military clashes? Children in school suffer psychological terror."
The Maoists, however, see schools as a laboratory for their revolution. They have begun with just a committed few, but their intention seems clear: to impose their strongly militaristic schooling on more and more people. Sphere: Related Content
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