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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 15, No. 28, January 9, 2017
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
Assam:
Troubles Persist
Nijeesh
N.
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
On December
31, 2016, one militant belonging to the I.K. Songbijit
faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS),
identified as Aalai Ram Brahma aka Anthai Brahma
was killed in an encounter by the Indian Army at Dhopguri
village under the Orang Police Station of Udalguri District.
The militant was injured in a fierce exchange of fire,
and later the same day succumbed to his injuries at Guwahati
Medical College Hospital (GMCH).
On December
28, 2016, an NDFB-IKS militant, identified as Ratan Narzary
was killed during a gun fight with Security Forces (SFs)
in Kokrajhar District. Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police
(SP) Rajen Singh stated that a joint team of the 7th
Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry (LI) regiment and
Kokrajhar Police, based on specific information regarding
the movement of NDFB-IKS, launched a joint operation at
Ashrabari (Laopani area) under the Bismuri Police Outpost
in the morning of December 28 and a group of 3 or 4 suspected
cadres of the outfit were seen moving in the area. The
militants opened fire on the joint team on being challenged,
and the ambush party fired back. The exchange of fire
that lasted for about 15 minutes, and SF’s recovered one
AK-56 assault rifle, a magazine, 11 live ammunition, nine
fired cases, one hand grenade, a bag, a blanket, two mobile
phones and two active SIM cards. However, villagers started
protests against the killing, claiming that he was not
associated with any militant organisation and demanded
a probe into the killing. On December 30, 2016, Chief
Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal instructed the Commissioner,
Lower Assam, Mohammad M.U. Ahmed to conduct a probe into
the incident.
On December
10, 2016, two NDFB-IKS militants were killed in an encounter
with a joint team of the Assam Police and Army in the
deep jungles along the Indo-Bhutan border in Kokrajhar
District. On a tip-off, SFs launched an operation inside
the Kochugaon Reserve Forest in the Oksiguri area in the
early hours and a group of four insurgents exchanged fire
with the security team. Two of the militants were killed
on the spot, Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD)
Inspector General of Police (IGP) L.R. Bishnoi disclosed.
An AK-56 rifle with 21 rounds of live ammunition, and
one 7.65 mm pistol with one magazine containing three
rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the slain
militants.
Crucially,
in terms of insurgency/militancy-related violence, Assam
is the only State in the Northeast region which recorded
higher fatalities during 2016, as compared to the preceding
year. According to partial data compiled by the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), in 2016, the State registered
a total of 86 fatalities, including 33 civilians, four
SF personnel and 49 militants. In comparison, 2015 had
recorded a total of 59 killings, including 10 civilians,
one SF trooper and 48 militants. In 2015, the State had
recorded the lowest insurgency-related fatalities since
1992 [the year since which SATP data is available]. No
killing has been registered in the state in the current
year 2017, till date (Data updated till January 8, 2017).
Worryingly,
the number of civilian fatalities in the state increased
sharply to 33 in 2016 from 10 in 2015. Last year’s civilian
toll was also the lowest since 1992; 184 civilian fatalities
were recorded in 2014. In one of the worst
terrorist attack on the civilians
since the December 23, 2014, Adivasi
massacre,
suspected NDFB-IKS militants opened indiscriminate fire
at the crowded Balajan Tiniali Weekly (Friday) Market
in Kokrajhar District on August 5, 2016, killing 14 persons,
including two women, and injuring another 20. According
to eyewitnesses, there were four to five terrorists in
military fatigues, armed with sophisticated weapons, who
fired at the crowd in the market at around 11.30 am. Personnel
of the 3rd Rajput Regiment based in Kokrajhar, who were
passing through the market, started retaliatory firing,
killing one terrorist, while the others managed to escape.
Significantly, only one major incident (involving three
or more fatalities) was reported with civilian fatalities
between December 23, 2014, and August 5, 2016: on April
4, 2016, at least three persons were killed and over twenty
were injured in a powerful grenade attack by the Independent
faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I)
at Dudhnoi in Goalpara District.
Similarly,
SF fatalities also increased from one in 2015 to four
in 2016. In the worst
incident of this nature in 2016, on
November 19, three Army personnel were killed and another
four were injured when militants ambushed an Army convoy
at Pengaree near Digboi in Tinsukia District.
Due to
sustained operations by SFs in the State, 49 militants
belonging to various insurgent groups lost their lives
during 2016, as against 48 in 2015. Of the 49 militants
killed, NDFB-IKS lost the largest number, 22; followed
by Karbi People's Liberation Tigers (KPLT),
11; three cadres each of the ULFA-I and the Khaplang faction
of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K);
two cadres each of the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF),
People’s Liberation Front of Meghalaya (PLF-M),
Reformation faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN-R); and one cadre each of National Santhal Liberation
Army (NSLA), United Democratic Liberation Army (UDLA),
Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO),
and United People's Liberation Army (UPLA). In one of
the most successful operations in recent times, on September
23, 2016, the Indian Army along with personnel of the
Assam Police, killed at least six KPLT militants including
two of its “top leaders” according to Police sources,
in a swift and surgical operation in the Nambar Reserve
Forest in East Karbi Anglong District.
SFs also
arrested 490 militants of various outfits in Assam through
2016. These included 152 of NDFB-IKS; followed by ULFA-I,
61; Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),
24; National Santhal Liberation Army (NSLA), 23; KPLT,
18; Helem Tiger Force (HTF), 11; Kamtapur Liberation Organization
(KLO), 10. In 2015, a total of 602 militants had been
arrested in the State. ‘Operation All Out’, launched by
SFs to flush out militants after the NDFB-IKS militants
massacred over 69 Adivasis on December 23, 2014,
in which the Indian Air Force, Army, Paramilitary Forces
and State Police have worked together, continues.
On June
29, 2016, the Army claimed that, in
a series of joint operations with
the Assam Police over the preceding days, 11 militants
of the recently-floated HTF were arrested from Umrongso
in Dima Hasao District and Larkercha village in West Karbi
Anglong District along the Assam-Meghalaya border. HTF
reportedly has close links with the KPLT and UPLA. After
the arrests, Army sources disclosed that the unearthing
and arrest of a majority of cadres of this outfit, has
been a major setback for the nexus between these groups,
which have been involved in abduction, extortion and ‘tax-collection’.
However, SFs failed to arrest the kingpin of this new
outfit.
Other parameters
of violence also recorded slight increases as well. The
year 2016 saw seven major incidents (each involving three
or more fatalities) resulting in 37 deaths, as against
just two such incidents, accounting for six deaths in
2015. The number of Districts from where insurgency-related
fatalities were reported stood at 14 in 2016 as against
13 in 2015, out of a total of 35 Districts in the State
(including three new Districts created in 2016; East Kamrup,
South Kamrup and Majuli). The Districts from where incidents
of killing were reported in 2016 were Kokrajhar (34),
Tinsukia (12), East Karbi Anglong (12), Goalpara (7),
Sonitpur (5), Chirang (4), Hailakandi (4), Udalguri (3),
Darrang (1), Nagaon (1), Nalbari (1), West Karbi Anglong
(1), and Jorhat (1). Further, the number of explosions
reported in 2016 was 11, as against six in 2015, and resultant
fatalities increased from two in 2015 to six in 2016.
On the
other hand, reported incidents of abduction and extortion
by militants registered a slight decline. According to
Assam
Police records, there were 4,704 cases
of abductions registered in the State in 2016 (data till
September); as against 6,103 cases in 2015. Further, there
were 989 extortion-related cases registered in 2016 (data
till September); as against 1,361 in 2015. Though most
of the abductions were carried out by criminals, the Police
records did not rule out the role of militant outfits
of the region in some of the incidents. Many incidents
of abduction and extortion go unreported, and these numbers
are likely a gross underestimate.
Reports
also indicate that many of the militant groups in the
region were coming together to fight jointly for the 'sovereignty'
of their respective imagined states. After the November
19, 2016, Pengaree attack, in which three SF personnel
were killed, ULFA-I claimed that this was a “joint operation”
carried out by the its cadres and four members of the
Manipur-based Coordination Committee (CorCom)
– comprising the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF, the
political wing of the People's Liberation Army, PLA),
United National Liberation Front (UNLF),
People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK),
and the progressive faction of PREPAK (PREPAK-Pro). The
other two members of the CorCom, a conglomerate of six
Manipur Valley-based militant outfits, are the Kangleipak
Communist Party (KCP)
and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL).
The same group also carried out a second attack on the
Army in the Chandel District of Manipur on November 26,
2016, and injured five SF personnel. The attacks, codenamed
‘Operation Barak’, were the first instance of Meitei groups
carrying out a terror strike in Assam and ULFA-I operating
in Manipur. On December 3, 2016,the 'commander-in-chief'
of ULFA-I, Paresh Baruah, clarified that “Operation Barak,
named after the Barak River that flows from Manipur to
Assam, is a symbol of friendship between the two States."
ULFA-I,
NDFB-IKS, KLO and the Khaplang faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) had also jointly
formed the United National Liberation Front of Western
South East Asia (UNLFWSEA), a common front of militant
groups in India’s Northeast region. Different ethnic armed
groups (EAGs) continued with their efforts to engage in
disruptive activities and had formed this united platform
and they were also attempting to develop a nexus with
transnational jihadi groups and Maoists, increasing
the threat potential in the Assam and the wider Northeast
region. A new militant outfit that seeks a separate sovereign
nation for the Karbi people by segregating the portion
of land from Assam, the People’s Democratic Council of
Karbilongri (PDCK) was formed on October 27, 2016, and
also joined UNLFWSEA. The plan to make UNLFWSEA bigger
indicates a possibility of heightened militancy in the
region in the foreseeable future.
An incipient
threat of Islamist terrorism from within, from neighboring
States, as well as from bordering countries, has exacerbated
risks in Assam as well. On April 20, 2016, the Chirang
Police arrested seven suspected cadres of JMB from two
different areas in the Chirang District of Assam. Five
of them were arrested from the Dawkanagar area; another
two, including the imam (prayer leader) of Rajapara
Masjid (mosque), were arrested from the Amguri
area. Bodoland Territorial Administrative Districts (BTAD)
IGP L.R. Bishnoi stated, “All these jihadis were
operating in Assam under Bangladesh-based jihadi
module JMB. They had set up a camp for imparting physical
training and there were plans to impart arms training
later. Two people came from West Bengal to impart training
to the jihadis here. We have got their names and addresses
and we are in touch with our counterparts in West Bengal
to arrest them”. The JMB modules were exposed in a countrywide
crackdown in the aftermath of the October 2, 2014, Burdwan
blast in West Bengal.
According
to SATP data, at least 36 Islamist extremists, including
24 JMB cadres, six of the Muslim Tiger Force of Assam
(MTFA), one each of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS), Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA),
and Indian Mujahideen (IM); and another three whose affiliations
were unidentified, were arrested during the year 2016.
In a positive
move, India and Bangladesh exchanged a list of wanted
terrorists suspected to be hiding in both the countries
during the two-day Home Secretary level talks between
the two countries held in New Delhi on December 5-6, 2016.
During the talks, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi
handed over a list of terrorists, including several ULFA-I
leaders, along with a list of 45 militant hideouts in
Bangladesh, and urged Dhaka to take immediate measures
for handing over jailed Northeast militants. Dhaka on
its part shared a list of home grown terrorists, particularly
JMB cadres, suspected to be holed up in India. The neighbouring
countries also decided to set up a joint anti-terror mechanism
to combat terrorism and radical elements.
While the
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) is working to seal
the entire border with Bangladesh over the next two years,
the State Government is also contemplating measures to
harden the border areas against infiltration. On January
1, 2017, Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh
Sahay revealed that around 4,000 personnel would be recruited
to create a strong second line of defence to guard the
international border with Bangladesh. The recruitment
process is likely to be completed in financial year 2017-18.
In each of the four districts bordering Bangladesh, personnel
of the Force would work under a commandant, so that the
District Superintendents of Police are not overburdened.
Though the main responsibility of guarding the international
border with Bangladesh will continue to rest with the
Border Security Force (BSF), the personnel of the second
line of defence would definitely improve border management,
Sahay asserted.
Further,
on July 27, 2016, the Central Government ruled out the
possibility of holding any dialogue with the ULFA-I and
NDFB-IKS. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju
stated in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament)
that, with regard to the ULFA faction led by Paresh Baruah,
there is no formal offer of talks because the group was
still engaged in anti-national activities: Moreover, Rijiju
added, "The gruesome killing of innocent people by
the NDFB (Songbijit) on December 23, 2014, in Assam had
led to an operation which was carried out jointly by the
State and Central forces. We also got support of the Government
of Bhutan. Therefore, there is no question of talks with
the NDFB (Songbijit) because it has carried out mass killing
of innocent people."
There were
also unconfirmed reports that the NDFB-IKS had sent feelers
to the Government of India seeking a ceasefire agreement
and a political leader from the State recently approached
the UMHA in this regard. 13 militant groups in the State
are currently under Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreements
with the Government, and another four groups – Bodo Liberation
Tigers (BLT), United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS),
Dilip Nunisa faction of Dima Halim Daogah (DHD-N) and
Jewel Garlosa faction of DHD (DHD-J) – have signed Memorandum
of Settlement (MoS) agreements with the Government. However,
no new SoOs or MoSs were signed in 2016.
Nevertheless,
on December 13, 2016, BTAD IGP L.R. Bishnoi offered a
surrender opportunity to NDFB-IKS leaders, including its
‘army chief’ G. Bidai, saying that they would be treated
well according to the Constitution if they joined the
‘mainstream. Bishnoi also disclosed that NDFB-IKS had
three camps in Myanmar, where they were taking shelter,
and that Bidaihad taken shelter inside the deep jungles
of Bhutan, along with a few cadres. Bishnoi added that
the Police had undertaken strong operations against militant
outfits in the State and that, of 23 council members of
NDFB-IKS four had been arrested, while the rest were taking
shelter in Myanmar. Further, on January 1, 2017, State
Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh Sahay stated that
dealing with militancy would remain a prime focus area
of the State Police, since, while militancy was down,
it was not out.
Most militant
outfits in Assam strongly oppose the Union Government’s
plan to grant citizenship rights to Bangladeshi Hindus.
On January 2, 2017, KLO, National Liberation Front of
Tripura (NLFT)
and PDCK set a deadline for Bengali and Hindi-speaking
people to leave Kamatapur, Karbi-Longri and Tripura by
March 31, 2017, failing which they might face a ‘bad situation’.
“We strongly oppose heinous killings by Indian Army and
rehabilitation programme for Bangladeshi Bengalis…. We
hereby would like to notify Indian citizens (Bengali and
Hindi speaking people) to quit Kamatapur, Karbi-Longri
and Tripura,” an “eviction notice” signed by KLO ‘chairman’
Jiban Singh Koch, NLFT ‘organising secretary’ Seng-phul
Borok and PDCK ‘chairman’ J.K. Lijang, declared.
Though
the entire Northeast region has witnessed tremendous improvements
in its security profile in 2016, Assam gives cause for
some worry. The spike in violence as well as efforts across
the region to create a unified platform for militant formations
has significant potential for future mischief, and it
will require sustained efforts and political will to consolidate
the gains of the past years.
|
Enduring
Dilemmas
S.
Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Though
the insurgency has ended in Nepal, political violence
continued through 2016. However, not a single insurgency-related
fatality was recorded in 2016, and this has been the case
since 2013, with not a single insurgency-related fatality
on record. At the peak of insurgency, Nepal had seen 4,896
fatalities in 2002 alone, including 3,992 Maoists, 666
Security Force (SF) personnel and 238 civilians.
Political
violence, on the other hand, has escalated
since July 1, 2015, when cadres of the United Democratic
Madhesi Front (UDMF), a four party alliance of the Madhesi
People's Rights Forum Nepal (MPRF-N), Tarai Madhes Democratic
Party (TMDP), Sadbhavana Party (SP) and National Madhes
Shadbhavana Party (NMSP), burnt copies of the preliminary
draft of the new Constitution in Kathmandu, the Capital
city, because it failed to incorporate their demands.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia
Terrorism Portal (SATP), six persons, including five
civilians and one Security Force (SF) trooper, were killed
and another 16, including 13 civilians and three SF personnel,
were injured in violent protests across the country in
2016. In 2015, at least 57 persons, including 38 civilians
and 19 SF personnel were killed and another 700, including
544 civilians and 156 SF personnel, were injured in violent
protests.
Of late,
on January 3, 2017, the Legislature-Parliament meeting
was postponed till January 8, 2017, as the main opposition
party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML), had been obstructing the meeting since the
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Centre)-led
Government, registered
a seven-point Constitution Amendment Bill at the Parliament
Secretariat on November 29, 2016, to address the concerns
of Madhes-based parties. The Constitution had been adopted
in a historical
step on September 20, 2015. The most
significant aspect of the Amendment Bill was the proposal
to leave only six Districts, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilbastu,
Dang, Banke and Bardiya, in Province 5, excluding the
six hill Districts of Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Rukum,
Rolpa and Pyuthan, to add them to Province 4. The proposed
Amendment provides for two Madhes dominated Provinces:
Province 2 and Province 5, as demanded in the 11-point
demands of the UDMF. Province 2 was
already Madhes dominated. The Bill also seeks to amend
the Constitutional provisions pertaining to citizenship,
provincial border, and proportional representation, among
other aspects.
On December
1, 2016, CPN-UML blocked Parliamentary proceedings, terming
the Constitution Amendment Bill anti-national. Further,
on December 13, 2016, a joint meeting of eight political
parties, including CPN-UML, Communist Party of Nepal-Marxist
Leninist (CPN-ML), Rastriya Janamorcha (RJ), Nepal Workers
and Peasants' Party (NWPP), Nepal Parivar Dal (NPD) Nepa
Party (NP), Janamukti Loktantrik Party (JLP) and Madhesi
Samata Party (MSP), decided to continue the ‘House obstruction’
and intensify their protests until the Bill was withdrawn.
Threatening not to let Parliament endorse the Constitution
Amendment Bill at any cost, CPN-UML Chairman K.P. Sharma
Oli, while addressing a mass rally of opposition parties
at Exhibition Road in Kathmandu on January 6, 2017, asserted,
“The UML will not allow through Parliament any proposal
which is against the national interest. Rest assured that
the national interest will not be let down as long as
the UML is there.”
Separately,
the
agitating Madhesi parties to meet
other demands had expressed their own demands. National
Madhes Socialist Party (NMSP) General Secretary Keshav
Jha, expressed serious dissatisfaction over the possible
number of local units in the Terai, declaring, on December
20, 2016, “The Madhes-based parties can settle for at
least 46 percent of local units in the Terai Districts.
We are not saying the number should be directly proportionate
with the population. We can consider four to five percent
for geography; otherwise population should be the major
factor for fixing the number of local units." Worse,
warning of secessionist forces that would rise in the
country if the Constitution Amendment move and federalism
failed, SP Chairperson Rajendra Mahato observed, on January
1, 2017, “As Constitution amendment is a must to address
the concerns of Madhesi communities, it must happen at
any cost for the welfare of the large community (sic).”
Further, on January 3, 2017, Mahato added “The delineation
of the provinces as it is in the Constitution works against
the will of the Madhesi and indigenous people here. The
UML has been a prime hindrance in our attempt to correct
it through an amendment. It is only fair to kick the UML
out from the Madhes, since it has been restricting the
Madhesis in their own ground.”
Meanwhile,
at a time when the main opposition party, CPN-UML, is
piling pressure on the Government to withdraw the Bill,
Prime Minister Pusha Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda
on December 7, 2016, argued, “The UML will realize its
mistake of starting protests against the Bill that seeks
to unify hills, mountains and plains; and further strengthens
the national unity and geographical indivisibleness.”
Reaffirming the Government’s stand, Deputy Prime Minister
Bimalendra Nidhi added on December 30, 2016, “The UML
stance on the Constitution Amendment Bill is against democracy,
the parliamentary system and constitutional norms. I would
like to urge UML to back down from its stance.”
In order
to end the ongoing Parliamentary stalemate, Speaker Onsari
Gharti Magar gave a three-day ultimatum on December 29,
2016, to secure a consensus, disclosing, “The parties
have informed me that they are close to consensus. I have
given them a time of three days so that they can have
more serious discussions.” The Speaker also warned that
the Parliament would follow set procedures to resume its
business if the parties failed to clear the way. Moreover,
in order to ensure that the Legislative applied its collective
wisdom in the formulation of legislation on the basis
of the principle of separation of powers, the Supreme
Court (SC), on January 2, 2017, cleared the decks for
the Government to endorse the Constitution Amendment Bill.
While no
consensus could be reached within the Speaker’s deadline,
the SC’s ruling has cleared the path to take the Bill
forward in the House. On January 8, 2017, the Communist
Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist Center)-led Government
tabled the Constitution Amendment Bill amid protests from
opposition party lawmakers. Earlier, Nepali Congress (NC),
CPN-Maoist Center and UDMF, during a tripartite meeting
held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Kathmandu on
January 5, 2017, consequently decided to table the Constitution
Amendment Bill at the Parliament meeting scheduled for
January 8, 2017. The parties also agreed that the Government
would receive the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission
(LBRC)’s report at the earliest and move ahead for local,
provincial and federal elections.
The holding
of three elections – local, provincial and federal – by
December 2017, as envisaged in the new Constitution, is
another challenge confronting Nepal. The last time local
elections were held in the country was some 19 years ago,
in 1997. Since then, the local bodies – Village Development
Committees (VDCs), municipalities, District Development
Committees (DDCs) and Metropolitan Councils – have been
without people’s representatives. Significantly, on January
6, 2017, the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission (LBRC)
submitted its 1,718-page report in 16 volumes, to Minister
of Local Development Hitraj Pandey in the presence of
Prime Minister Dahal, recommending four Metropolitan Cities
– Kathmandu, Chitwan, Lalitpur and Kaski Districts – 12
Sub-Metropolitan Cities, 241 municipalities, 462 village
units and 719 local units with 6,553 VDCs. The report
was a milestone as far as the implementation of the Constitution
and federalism was concerned. The commission, which has
two more months left do its work before it expires on
March 13, 2017, will prepare blueprints of special clusters
and autonomous zones according to the Terms of Reference
(ToR) given by the Government.
Another
dilemma
for the present Government is the issue of transitional
justice. Resolving outstanding transitional justice issues
through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
and Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared
Persons (CIEDP) was one of Dahal’s proclaimed priorities
when he was sworn as Prime Minister on August 3, 2016.
TRC had started recording testimonies regarding insurgency-era
rights’ violations and crimes from April 17, 2016, at
District Peace Committee Offices in all 75 Districts,
and has received 57,753 complaints from victims of the
insurgency. Similarly, CIEDP, the commission formed to
investigate conflict-related disappearances cases, which
started receiving complaints on April 14, 2016, has received
over 2,800 complaints from those whose kin had disappeared
during the 10-year insurgency. Herculean tasks lie ahead
for TRC and CIEDP, to establish the truth, investigate
violations of human rights and make recommendations for
action, as the terms of the transitional mechanisms expire
on February 10, 2017. Moreover, on November 26, 2016,
TRC Chairman Surya Kiran Gurung and CIEDP Chairman Lokendra
Mallick accused the Government of weakening the two bodies
by not providing legal and financial support. TRC and
CIEDP were formed on February 10, 2015, in the spirit
of the Interim
Constitution of 2007 and the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) of November
12, 2006, to probe instances of serious violations of
human rights and find the status of those who were disappeared
in the course of the armed conflict between the State
and the then Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist)
from February 13, 1996, to November 21, 2006.
Earlier,
at a time when the victims and international human rights
agencies were urging the Government to bring the Transitional
Justice Act on par with international standards, five
Maoist parties – New Force Nepal led by Baburam Bhattarai,
CPN-Revolutionary Maoist led by Mohan Baidya, CPN (Maoist)
led by Matrika Yadav and Revolutionary Communist Party
Nepal led by Mani Chandra Thapa, besides then Unified
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M)
led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal – in a joint statement on April
21, 2016, called on the then KP Sharma-led Government
to scrap conflict-era cases, claiming that such cases
violated the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA)
of 2006. Further, on May 19, 2016, ten Maoist parties,
at a joint convention in Kathmandu, united
to form a new force under former rebel commander Pushpa
Kamal Dahal, to give birth to what they decided to call
the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-Maoist
Centre). Addressing the function organized to announce
the unification, Chairman Dahal declared, “The days of
conspiracy against the revolutionary agenda of republic,
secularism and proportional representation are over. This
unification is a message loud and clear that the days
of people’s victory are here. This unification guarantees
that the transitional justice mechanisms will function
in line with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”
The Dahal-led
Government is facing a possible crisis, as the Constitution
Amendment Bill requires at least a two-thirds majority
vote in Parliament. As the main opposition party CPN-UML
and seven other parties object to the Amendment, it is
uncertain whether the Bill can secure passage through
Parliament. Moreover, despite the establishment of transitional
justice mechanisms, impunity for violations committed
both during the conflict and in the post-conflict era
remains entrenched in the country’s political culture.
It remains to be seen whether Nepal is able to reconcile
the demands of political stability and continuity, on
the one hand, and of justice for war era excesses, on
the other, to establish an enduring constitutional and
political order that will meet the demands of equity and
governance.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
January
2 - 8, 2017
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
INDIA
|
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
Manipur
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Jharkhand
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
Maharashtra
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Total (INDIA)
|
7
|
1
|
7
|
15
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
6
|
Punjab
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
Sindh
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
| |