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Letter to State Department: Aid to Nepal Should be Contingent on Human Rights
08/26/2005
Human rights abuses, by both the Maoist
rebels and the Nepalese security forces, have led to a humanitarian
crisis and large scale displacement in Nepal. The Nepalese military
receives equipment and training from the US primarily through the
Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. In November 2004, the US
Congress approved a government spending bill for FY 2005 which
conditions US military assistance to Nepal, via the FMF program, on
improvements in Nepal’s human rights record. This government spending
bill also authorizes the Secretary of State to waive the human rights
conditions, restricting the assistance, on the basis of US national
security reasons. The US Secretary of State has not announced a
decision yet about whether Nepal will receive, or be denied, the
military assistance for FY 2005. In a letter to the Department of
State, RI’s President Ken Bacon urges for the conditions to be kept in
place until the Nepalese security forces change their vicious and
ineffective tactics and the Government of Nepal takes concrete steps to
resolve the crisis.
August 22, 2005
Donald A. Camp
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
for South Asian Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Dear Mr. Camp:
I am writing to recommend that the State Department not waive the human rights conditions linked to fiscal year 2005 Foreign Military Financing Assistance for Nepal. Nepal is facing a grave human rights and humanitarian crisis as a result of the Maoist conflict. The steps taken by the King since February 1, 2005 have aggravated human rights abuses and the crisis. Granting a waiver would appear to reward an autocratic government that suspended civil liberties and suppressed the democracy movement. What's more the continuation of military aid will reduce U.S. leverage to influence the conduct of the Royal Nepalese Army or RNA, whose actions have led to a worsening of the humanitarian conditions.
A recent Refugees International assessment mission to Nepal found a change in the dynamic of the brutal conflict there. Previously atrocities by the Maoist insurgents were the primary cause of internal displacement. Now, the brutality of the RNA, towards people suspected of being Maoist sympathizers, or those unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire, is leaving people with no option but to flee to urban centers or India.
In the past two years, the RNA has employed increasingly vicious tactics against the civilian population. Civilians suspected of supporting the Maoists are routinely harassed, intimidated, tortured and sometimes killed. Adding to this deadly mix, are local militias or vigilante groups, which are believed to be operating with government support. The vigilante groups fight the Maoists and in the process commit human rights violations against civilians, thus contributing to the forced displacement.
The Government of Nepal has to a large extent ignored its obligations to protect the internally displaced population, estimated to number 200,000-500,000, and particularly those uprooted by its own security forces. While the RNA carries out human rights abuses in its fight against the Maoists, and the Maoists retaliate with systematic violations of the laws of war, it is increasingly clear that this conflict is not going to be resolved by military means. Not until both the parties are brought to the negotiating table, there is a breakthrough in the peace process, and a full restoration of democratic institutions, would Nepal come out of its present predicament. Only then will the hundreds of thousands of displaced people feel safe enough to return.
The United States must take all measures possible to promote an end to this human rights and humanitarian crisis. Supporting the brutal, ineffective tactics of the RNA with military aid is the wrong way to go. In violation of our own clear principles, we would be supporting an undemocratic regime that is on the wrong path to dealing with a severe internal security problem.
I urge you to consider keeping the human rights conditions over aid in place. The crisis in Nepal won't end until both sides, the government and the insurgents, respect the human rights and economic rights of the people of Nepal. Imposing human rights conditions on military aid would help press the Government of Nepal to undertake efforts to resolve the crisis and encourage a political settlement.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kenneth H. Bacon
President and CEO
Refugees International
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