Wednesday, June 15, 2005

From The Blogosphere


This blog of mine has been linked to and quoted. Not surprised. The search engines make it so easy for the curious.
  • News Out Of Nepal Robert Mayer, Publius Pundit 2/22/5 (Here I get quoted extensively. Looks like the entire blog entry is an elaborate quote of one of my articles.)
June 15
  • Stop arming Nepal: Amnesty Rediff, India ..... until it stops what the group alleges are widespread killings and torture ..... the aid is facilitating the killing, torture and disappearance of thousands of civilians since 2001 ..... Amnesty also asked the rebels to end all attacks on civilians, quit recruitment of children and investigate any abuses by its cadres and ensure that culprits are removed from their posts....... Both army troops and police officers are now required to receive training in protecting peoples' rights...... Forty-eight officers have been jailed on various charges and disciplinary action has been taken against 68, Gurung said. One soldier is facing rape charges, and several other cases are being investigated ..... the Nepalese government must stop extrajudicial killings, all forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions as well as torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ...... wants donor nations to suspend any military and security assistance, including non-lethal and dual-use equipment that that could be used for military purposes
  • British arms supplies fuelling abuses in Nepal, says Amnesty Guardian Unlimited Britain is among international arms suppliers fuelling serious human rights abuses in Nepal ..... Countries that have supplied arms and weapons systems to Nepal include Britain, India, France, South Africa and Belgium...... a number of senior Nepalese army officers, including the commander in chief, were trained at Sandhurst...... Amnesty said yesterday it was concerned that he was signalling a resumption of arms supplies to Nepal.
  • Private radio in Nepal defy government ban to broadcast news Malaysia Star, Malaysia The broadcasts Tuesday night were the first since the ban was introduced after Gyanendra seized absolute control in February ..... The Information Ministry issued a warning to the radio stations Tuesday, saying a violation of the government order would result in the station losing its permit or a possible jail term for offenders. ... A number of newspapers have been forced to close because of government censorship.
  • Nepal frees journalists who protested Boston Globe Police officials said they had received orders from the top to free all journalists detained during Monday's rally...... "We call for the immediate release of our colleagues," said Ann Cooper of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "The government of Nepal should respond to media protests by restoring press freedom, not arresting journalists." ..... "The authorities are clearly stepping up their crackdown, using large numbers of well organized anti-riot and plainclothes police," it said in a statement. "The way these protests are being crushed shows the authorities are ready to use brute force against those who want democracy." ..... a proposed law they say will further tighten media control...... Last week, the Vienna-based International Press Institute told the king in a statement that "the best antidote to the present situation in the country is more speech and greater discussion."
  • Nepal Arrests Reporters in Protest Guardian Unlimited Police bundled them into buses, and the detainees shattered some bus windows as they were driven away. Some protesters were injured in the scuffles. ..... Many of the protesters ``were manhandled and injured by the police' ..... ``We will continue our protests even while we are in detention,'' Nisthuri vowed. ..... Government officials were not available for comment Monday despite repeated phone calls.
  • Nepal has to stand on its own feet: Koirala tells India Indian Express, India “This is my last attempt to fulfill my dream of democracy in Nepal,” he said at a press conference, before leaving for Kathmandu...... criticised the international community for what he said was its hypocrisy. “They first suggested that the Nepal crisis required a political solution and then created a “hue and cry” when the Maoists were approached for talks” ..... On reports of split in Maoist groups, Koirala said, “It might be their strategy. One section is liberal and the other hardline. Both are projected as the situation demands.” He added a major effort to bring Maoists into the mainstream could start only after democracy is in place...... said he was grateful for New Delhi’s support to democracy in Nepal, but added, “Nepal has to stand on its own feet.”
  • India's military supplies to Nepal will upset democratic forces Islamic Republic News Agency G P Koirala, who is also the leader of the democracy movement in his country .... the Indian leadership said it fully backed Koirala's position...... "We do not want to interfere in the government of India's policy. But whatever policy they formulate, they should keep in mind whether that encourages democratic forces or dictatorial forces." ..... He said the political combine would now set up its anti-king or pro-democracy movement..... was willing to talk to Maoist leaders ...... "Whoever wants to settle the issue of Maoists should talk to them."
  • Towards a Lasting Peace in Nepal: The Constitutional Issues International Crisis Group, Belgium the 1990 Constitution .... the nine-year-old Maoist insurgency has cruelly exposed the inherent weaknesses in that settlement, and the royal coup of 1 February 2005 has dealt it a near fatal blow. ..... The conflict's root causes can only be addressed by structural change in the state and its governance system....... There are various possible mainstream entities -- such as an all-party government -- that could eventually negotiate a transition but there are also Maoist and royal roadmaps ..... Amendment of the current constitution by parliament or through referendum has been proposed but debate now centres on a constitutional assembly, a central Maoist demand which is now backed by mainstream parties and analysts......... The Maoists have called for radical restructuring of the state ....... The mainstream political parties opposed fundamental revision of the constitution until recently but are now willing to envisage greater change, although their policies are still a subject of debate....... the 1990 Constitution had been undermined by the May 2002 dissolution of parliament and King Gyanendra's repeated dismissals of prime ministers. Subsequent governments had little chance of conducting successful negotiations with the Maoists as long as real power rested with the palace....... The re-introduction of democratic institutions remains central to establishing a government that can negotiate with the Maoists and initiate a consensual process for constitutional change. But the palace is more concerned with consolidating royal rule, while a broader alliance of Kathmandu-centred interests has long opposed a more equitable distribution of power....... an all-party government without a parliament: the royal coup has increased the previously slim likelihood that the mainstream political parties might manage to form such a government. But if it is constituted by royal fiat, it would lack the legitimacy and authority to negotiate effectively with the Maoists ....... a government formed after new parliamentary elections: the Deuba government was tasked to hold parliamentary elections but this was never realistic. The king has announced municipal elections by April 2006 but there is no clear prospect of a general election ....... a government formed after restoration of the parliament elected in 1999: the king or the Supreme Court could restore parliament, although neither seems willing. This option was seen as a partisan measure that brings no guarantees of effective governance but it has now been endorsed by a coalition of mainstream parties. A parliament restored with the limited mandate to negotiate with the Maoists on constitutional change might advance the peace process........ In Nepal, constitutional amendment is typically understood to preclude consideration of the role of the monarchy, while a constitutional assembly is equated with republicanism....... a referendum on constitutional issues would likely destabilise the state, rather than identify an acceptable political compromise..... Any viable tripartite process would need to allow the Maoists to argue to their cadres that republicanism was at least on the table and permit the king to feel confident the monarchy was sufficiently secure. A process in which key stakeholders have already reached critical informal agreements may be a way of delivering constitutional change peacefully, although it would have to be balanced with the need for transparency and accountability. Allowing for easy subsequent amendment would enable future adjustments....... For the time being, however, the royal roadmap -- thinly disguised by the rhetoric of "protecting the 1990 Constitution" -- appears to be one of systematically dismantling multi-party democracy while pursuing a purely military strategy against the Maoists. The options for democratically negotiated change are severely constricted........ the Maoist roadmap of an interim government, ceasefire and freely elected constitutional assembly is likely to become the focus of increased attention
  • Concern Grows Over Nepal's Child Fighters Canton Repository (subscription)
  • Maoists kill six civilians in Nepal Sify Maoist rebels in Nepal have killed six relatives of members of the Armed Police Force, including a baby ..... "Three wives of the security personnel and two of their family members, including a one-year-old child, were killed by the Maoists in the nearby jungle"
  • Concern Grows Over Nepal's Child Fighters Washington Post Suraj Damai, 14 .... Brandishing homemade bombs, they announced that the time had come for Damai to "do something for the revolution" ...... Damai's brief career as a revolutionary, which ended with his capture by the army last summer ..... the insurgents' routine and apparently widespread use of child soldiers, many of whom are snatched from their villages against their will...... the Maoists often focus their recruitment efforts on "untouchables," who by some estimates account for nearly a fifth of Nepal's 27 million...... As a result, government security forces tend to treat most untouchables, or dalits , with suspicion, increasing their vulnerability to various forms of discrimination and abuse ...... Nepali security forces for employing children as spies or informants; Damai, for example, was ordered to help identify former comrades before he was finally released after two months in army custody ..... accused the Maoists of "abduction and forcible conscription of children . . . for political indoctrination and for use as combatants, informants, cooks or porters, and as human shields." ..... anachronistic "people's war" against the now 237-year-old monarchy ..... Gyanendra defended his power grab on grounds that it would give him a freer hand to deal with the Maoists, but so far there is little evidence of progress...... "We strike out some place. We manage to neutralize them, and they pop out somewhere else. We are not in sufficient numbers to completely strike them out."..... a mop of straight black hair that looks as though it was trimmed with a machete ..... a dalit who accidentally touches the communal water pump while a higher-caste villager is filling his jug risks a public scolding or worse. Even now, Damai remains so conscious of his status that when a stranger offers him a package of potato chips, he shakes his head in refusal, lest his touch contaminate the contents; chips passed by hand are hungrily devoured...... to this day, Khadka Damai, 49, said he was not sure if his son was abducted by the Maoists or went with them willingly...... a base for about 500 Maoists, many of them dalits and perhaps 200 of them children..... "I never tried to run away from the Maoists. I learned that we are dalits and everyone is discriminating against us, so I felt that to be a Maoist was good." ..... He still has fond memories of the Maoists' commander, a man of about 40 who was one of the few guerrillas in the group to carry a Kalashnikov assault rifle...... assigning him to an army checkpoint every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in hopes that he would identify former comrades. ..They turned him over to his father with a chilling warning. "If you son goes to the Maoists again," Damai recalled one of the soldiers saying, "he will be killed."
  • Nepal rebels kill baby Calcutta Telegraph, India Gurung said the RNA had recently received “non-lethal” military assistance from the US. The US government was also helping in providing “human rights” training to the RNA officials..... the RNA would initiate action against commanders under whose orders soldiers have been found to travel in public vehicles with arms.
  • Nepalese soldiers ordered not to use public transport ReliefWeb (press release) Gurung said that the soldiers had been off-duty but were carrying weapons. "Though technically off-duty they were on their way to a security camp to drop off the weapons"..... "But the Maoists are facing huge casualties and are becoming weaker by the day," Gurung added.
  • Order not to use public vehicles violated at times: RNA Kantipur Online a military court had court-martialled two security men—Ratna Thapa and Indra Narayan Giri—for involving in extortion from public posing as Maoists..... Thapa had asked for Rs.2 million from the Suzuki showroom in Tripureshwor while Giri had asked for Rs.400,000 from a shop in the same area..... the army is conducting investigation over 44 security personnel over the cases of human rights abuses. He also said that 48 security personnel have been imprisoned, 34 dismissed from the job, 12 demoted, 9 barred from promotion and that of five grades withheld till today..... five district-level Maoist leaders, including a woman, who had surrendered before the Army were presented in the press conference today. The Army said that they had extorted a total amount of over Rs.75.5 million from the business community and individuals from various places in Nepal, including Kathmandu.
  • Movement for democracy in Nepal should be accelerated United We Blog, Nepal .... the so-called peace in Kathmandu is rather phony ..... The airing of news about royal visit in Doha has pushed ultra royalists in Kathmandu in difficult corner. I know they will try to close down FMs if they start telling people’s news. But FMs have to do that......Government freed two prominent leftist leaders Amik Serchan and Lilamani Pokharel ...... strongly condemn the re-arrest of another leftist leader Nabaraj Subedi..... I am amazed that doctors and engineers are mute over the whole issue.
June 13
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