DATE=2/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NEPAL - MAOIST REBELS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259335
BYLINE=ANJANA PASRICHA
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
INTRO: In the Himalayan mountain kingdom of Nepal,
authorities say suspected Maoist rebels killed 15
policemen and injured 16 others Saturday. Anjana
Pasricha reports from VOA's South Asia Bureau, the
latest killings took place as the human rights group,
Amnesty International, warned of a "human rights
disaster" in Nepal due to the confrontation between
the government and the Maoist rebels.
TEXT: Authorities in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu
say the policemen were killed when suspected Maoist
rebels threw crude bombs at a security post in the
remote Gharti village in west Nepal. (about 300
kilometers west of Kathmandu.)
It was the biggest attack by the rebels on security
personnel since the Maoist faction of the communist
party began a violent insurgency in several remote
districts four years ago.
The guerrillas struck as the Nepalese government
launched an anti-Maoist campaign in rural areas. The
campaign was launched to coincide with the country's
celebrations of its national democracy day.
Authorities say more than one-thousand,500 people have
been killed in Nepal since the Maoist insurgency first
flared in 1996. The rebels want to overthrow the
government and establish a communist republic in
Nepal.
In a report released recently, Amnesty International
expessed concern at what it called the "face-off
between the government and the armed Maoist movement."
It blamed both the authorities and the rebels for
human rights violations.
The report says the rebels have killed at least 200
people since they began what they call the "people's
war." It says the violence has escalated in the last
year. It accuses the Maoists of handing out summary
justice to victims, including cruel forms of
punishments.
The human rights group says, police have also executed
hundreds of people in disputed circumstances. It says
reports of political and other prisoners being
tortured are common.
Amnesty International has appealed to the government
not to give the police and administration sweeping
powers to crush the insurgency. Instead it says the
government must back up political initiatives to deal
with the conflict.
Amnesty has also appealed to the international
community to take note of what is happening in Nepal
to ensure that it does not turn into another South
Asian war zone - and a human rights disaster zone.
Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan kingdom and one of the
world's poorest countries. It became a multi-party
democracy in 1990. Since then short-lived coalition
governments have led to political instability, and
failed to improve the country's economy. (Signed)
NEB/AP/PLM
19-Feb-2000 06:48 AM EDT (19-Feb-2000 1148 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
