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VOL. 27, NO. 30, April 04, 2008 (Chaitra 22 2064 B.S.)
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Cautious Enthusiasm
In its second election report released early this week, the UN body cautions about increasing incidents of violence
By A CORRESPONDENT
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has said that even though in most of the places, the election campaigning has been peaceful, the growing incidents of violence have worried it.
"Across much of the country, campaigning has continued in an enthusiastic and relatively peaceful manner, but a significant number of districts have experienced a surge in incidents involving clashes between different political party supporters," it reports.
It pointed out that the main threats to peaceful campaigning were continuing acts of violence by armed groups in the Terai, and obstruction, intimidation and violence carried out by supporters of political parties against candidates and supporters of competing parties, as well as intimidation of voters.
"The gravest incidents during the past week were the killings of two cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) in Kapilvastu and Solukhumbu, which bring the total number of violent deaths of Maoists since 5 February to at least seven; and the bomb attack at a mosque in Biratnagar which left two dead on 29 March. While the full details of these incidents remain unclear, the killings, violence and intimidation are stark reminders of the responsibility of the authorities and the political parties to create and maintain a conducive environment for the election," it said.
The UNMIN report also gravely notes the "widespread reports, confirmed by UNMIN and OHCHR monitoring and investigation, of continued Maoist intimidation of rival parties and voters, with clashes between the CPN-M and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML), Nepali Congress and Rastrya Prajatantra parties becoming frequent."
"There has been little or no reported progress on implementation of commitments in the SPA's 23-point agreement regarded by different parties as of importance in the pre-election context, including compensation to victims of the conflict, return of property and investigation of disappearances."
"UNMIN has intensified its monitoring of arms and armies during this crucial period, but there have been cases of Maoist combatants leaving their cantonments to engage in political campaigning, and in some instances in uniform and with perimeter security weapons to provide security for senior party leaders," it said, urging the Maoists to immediately stop doing that.
"Lower-level yet damaging threats and intimidation are widely reported. UNMIN and OHCHR have received numerous reports that during door-to-door campaigning voters are being told by political parties - particularly the CPN-M - that their vote will not actually be secret and that voters will face reprisals if they do not vote as instructed. Reports of this behavior were particularly prevalent in Gulmi, Kalikot and Agharkhanchi," it states.
The UNMIN report recommends there should be strict adherence to the Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies, an arrangement intended to prevent interference by either army in the electoral process. "The suspension of leave during the election period should be enforced, and the armies should cooperate with UNMIN in respecting notification procedures and enhanced monitoring arrangements. There should be transparency, especially among the parties represented in the Interim Government, regarding the transport of supplies for the Nepal Police and APF, as well as for the Nepal Army. The Maoist army should end the repeated incidents of temporary departure from cantonments to participate in rallies or other election activities, as well as the use of uniformed personnel and perimeter security weapons from cantonments for the protection of leaders and events."
