NEPAL: Preparations begin for demobilisation and disarmament
KATHMANDU, 15 November (IRIN): Preparations have begun in Nepal to start the management of Maoist soldiers and their weapons, government officials said Wednesday.
The rebels signed a landmark peace deal with the interim government of seven national parties on 8 November after nearly a decade of armed conflict which resulted in the deaths of over 14.000 people.
Following requests from both the interim government and Maoist leaders, the UN has agreed to assist in monitoring the Himalayan kingdoms disarmament programme.
Since Saturday, a UN team, led by Gen Jan Erik Wilhemsen, has been travelling with representatives of the government and Maoists to seven districts to inspect sites that will be used to register former combatants and their weapons, according to the office of Ian Martin, Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Nepal.
As laid out in the peace agreement, the Maoist Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) will be confined within 28 cantonments in the seven districts. In addition, their arms and ammunitions will be securely stored in the camps under lock and key.
Martins office said that negotiations have started on a tripartite agreement between the UN, government and the Maoists on how to manage arms and armed personnel. According to his office, urgent discussions are taking place in New York to mandate and prepare the mission.
– This is a Herculean task but a major breakthrough in ensuring Maoists enter into civilian life from their armed rebellion, said Arjun Narsingh KC, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress (NC), the countrys largest national party.
He added that the agreement by Maoists to disarm had already improved the security situation all over the country, especially for civilians caught up in the conflict.
According to the comprehensive agreement, all rebel combatants are expected to report to the camps by 21 November and to start giving up their arms, a process to be monitored and verified by the UN.
The agreement stipulates that the government army will be confined to barracks over the same period. Following this, the current parliament will be dissolved on 26 November and will be replaced by an interim council of ministers, to include Maoists, by 1 December.
The rebels continue to show commitment to the disarmament process.
– We do not feel that there are big challenges to the process of disarmament and we hope that the government will also show sincerity after the arms management process is complete, said senior Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma, one of the leading rebel negotiators.
– We are committed to peace and are not returning to war. All we want now is that our cadres work simply as political workers and not combatants, he said.
Despite this, several national newspapers ran headlines on Wednesday alleging the Maoists were starting a new recruitment drive outside the capital. A leading daily, the Kathmandu Post, reported that even school children had been forced to join the Maoist army.
There was no independent verification of the claim, but a leading local child rights watchdog said it was looking into the issue.
– We shall start our investigation into this, but so far we do not have any first hand information on this issue, said activist Tarak Dhital from Child Workers of Nepal (CWIN), a leading child rights NGO.
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
