[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 167 (Wednesday, December 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14307-S14308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NEPAL'S DOWNWARD SPIRAL

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this is the third time in the past 6 months 
that I have spoken in this chamber about Nepal. I do so because this 
land of mostly impoverished tea and rice farmers who toil between India 
and China on precipitous hillsides in the shadows of the Himalayas, is 
experiencing a political crisis that may plunge the country into chaos.
  As many predicted, King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power on 
February 1 and suppression of civil liberties has damaged Nepal's 
foreign relations, triggered clashes between prodemocracy demonstrators 
and the police, and strengthened the Maoist insurgency.
  The Maoists, whose use of extortion and brutality against poor 
villagers has spread throughout the country, announced a unilateral 
ceasefire on September 3 which they recently extended for an additional 
month. Although flawed, the ceasefire was the impetus for a loose 
alliance with Nepal's weak political parties after the King refused to 
negotiate with them and sought instead to consolidate his own grip on 
power.
  Last month, the Maoists and the parties endorsed a vaguely worded but 
important 12 point understanding that could be the basis for a national 
dialogue to restore democracy and end the conflict. That, however, 
would require some reciprocal confidence building measures by the army, 
which has so far rejected the Maoist ceasefire as a ploy and continues 
to see itself as the defender of an anachronistic, corrupt and 
autocratic monarchy.
  Although the army has won praise for its role in international 
peacekeeping missions, its reputation has been badly tarnished because 
of its abusive and ineffective campaign against the Maoists. It has 
engaged in arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings of 
ordinary citizens, which has alienated many of the same people who have 
been victims of the Maoists.
  On December 10, when hundreds of Nepali citizens took to the streets 
to protest the King's repressive actions, the police used force to 
break up the rally and arrested several dozen people. The press 
reported another 120 arrests and dozens injured in demonstrations on 
December 17. More protests are likely, and it may be only a matter of 
time before Katmandu is in the full throes of a pitched battle between 
prodemocracy demonstrators and the King's security forces.
  This is the disheartening situation in which Nepal finds itself 
today. The immediate challenge for the United States is how to help 
promote a political dialogue which includes the broadest possible 
participation from Nepali society to restore and strengthen democracy 
and end the conflict.
  The Maoist cease-fire, while welcome, was a tactical move to lure the 
political parties into an alliance and further isolate the palace. 
There is no way to predict with confidence if the Maoists would 
participate in a political process in good faith, or simply use it as a 
ruse to gain new recruits and weapons. A resumption of attacks against 
civilians would be condemned and resisted by the international 
community. The Maoists should know that they cannot defeat the 
government by force, and as long as they extort money and property and 
abduct children they will be seen as enemies of the Nepali people.
  Similarly, military experts have concluded that Nepal's undisciplined 
army cannot defeat a determined insurgency that attacks civilians and 
army posts and then disappears into the mountains.
  There are also concerns about Nepal's political parties, who do not 
have a record of putting the interests of the nation above their own 
self interest. But the political parties, for all their flaws, are the 
real representatives of the Nepali people. They urgently need to 
reform, but there is no substitute for them.
  Despite these difficulties and uncertainties, it is clear that the 
King has failed to provide the leadership to build bridges with the 
country's democratic forces and develop a workable plan. It is also 
clear that efforts by the international community, including the United 
States, to appeal to the King to start such a process, have failed. The 
Bush administration should apply whatever pressure it can, including 
denying U.S. visas to Nepali officials and their families.
  With few options and no guarantees, Nepal's hour of reckoning is 
approaching. There is a growing possibility that the King's obstinacy 
and unpopularity will trigger massive civil unrest, shootings and 
arrests of many more civilians by soldiers and police, Nepal's further 
isolation, and perhaps the end of the monarchy itself.
  Only the army has the ability to convince the King to abandon his 
imperial ambitions, but time is running out. The army's chief of staff, 
General Pyar Jung Thapa, was privileged to receive training at the Army 
War College and he has participated in other U.S. military training 
programs. He has led Nepali troops in UN peacekeeping missions. He 
knows, or he should have learned, that the function of a modern, 
professional military is to protect the rights and security of the 
people, not the privileges of a dictator who has squandered the moral 
authority of his office. It is not only in the interests of Nepal, but 
in the army's long-term self-interest, to show real leadership at this 
critical time.
  The United States should do everything possible to encourage the army 
to announce its own cease-fire, to accept international observers as 
the Maoists have said they would do, and to support a broadly inclusive 
political dialogue with or without the participation of the palace.
  Such a process, to be meaningful, must lead to free and fair 
elections. The municipal elections announced by King Gyanendra for 
early next year, without any consultation with the political parties, 
are no solution. An attempt to apply a veneer of legitimacy to an 
otherwise undemocratic process will only prolong and exacerbate this 
crisis.
  Many of the Maoist's grievances mirror those of the majority of 
Nepal's people who for centuries have suffered from discrimination, 
poverty, and abuse by one corrupt government after another. But Nepal's 
problems, which

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are at the root of the conflict, can only be solved through a 
transparent, democratic process. The Maoists have opened the door a 
crack for that to begin. The army should reciprocate. The international 
community should lend its support.

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