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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
NEPAL: Security still a challenge despite peace deal - leaders
KATHMANDU, 9 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - With extortion, threats and intimidation still common in many parts of rural Nepal, security will remain a serious challenge for many months to come despite Wednesday’s landmark peace deal, political leaders said on Thursday.
“The Maoists have to create an environment free of fear for the people,” said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who is also the chairman of Nepali Congress (NC), the country’s largest party. He added that a secure environment is needed to make the elections for the constituent assembly, scheduled for June 2007, successful.
In Wednesday’s peace agreement, Maoist rebels signed a comprehensive deal with the interim government of seven national parties to end the decade-long armed conflict, which has killed over 14,000 Nepalese.
For their part, Maoist leaders said that the situation regarding civilians caught up in the conflict would improve now that a peace deal had been signed. “We will become part of the government and no violence will be tolerated by our party,” Maoist leader Prachanda said.
But interim government members have yet to be convinced. “Even now, civilians live in total fear of the Maoists and it is time that they proved themselves as a political party,” said Pasupati Rana, chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), one of the country’s leading parties.
The Maoists, who had been waging an armed rebellion since 1996 against the Nepalese state, agreed to a mutual ceasefire with the government following the end of the absolute rule of the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra, in April after a mass uprising against him.
For the last 10 years, civilians have been subject to extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances, torture and widespread internal displacement at the hands of both the Maoists and government forces, according to Insec, a prominent Nepalese human rights organisation.
The rebel leader added that his movement had agreed to the contentious issue of management of their arms and ammunition and that this was a clear move to build bridges with civilians who may have suffered during the civil war.
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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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