National 2 (Spotlight Weekly)

Dangling The Carrot

The government expects to steal the wind from the sail of Maoist insurgency by offering general amnesty and secured reintegration of the surrendering rebels

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

After introducing the concept of Unified Command in the security operations against the Maoists, which it claims is bending the back of the rebels, the government has come up with plans for providing general amnesty to rebels who surrender– a classic stick and carrot approach.

Last week, the government spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Kamal Thapa unveiled a new set of programs to make the Maoists surrender along with arms.

The government has said it will provide general amnesty and guarantee the physical, economic and social security to any Maoist who surrenders. It has also provided monetary incentives for surrendering with arms. For instance, the government will give Rs 200,000 for turning over a machine gun, Rs 50,000 for M 16 rifles and so on.

Minister Thapa said, “We hope that there would be significant surrenders in the next few months. It also shows that the government does not intend to speak with bullets alone.” The rebels can surrender individually or en masse before the security forces or before the mobile administrative service teams.

Security experts have welcomed the government initiatives. “Well it is a part of an international strategy called DDR – Disarm, Demobilization and Reintegration. This has been the practice elsewhere in countries suffering from conflicts,” said Karna Bahadur Thapa, a security analyst.

He also lauded the payback initiative of buying back the weapons of the rebels. “But the success of this initiative will depend on how deeply the security forces have been able to infiltrate into the rebel forces. The intelligence back-up can make or break this initiative,” he said.

Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, another conflict expert, however, adds a caveat. “Though the move is good for short-term as well as long-term and would contribute to lessen the expansion of the conflict, it fails to address the root causes,” he said. “Anyway, this is a positive beginning and there would be a section of rebels who can be lured by such incentives for security and employment opportunities.”

The government is also planning to rehabilitate the rebels who surrender. Minister Thapa said that the government will set up a separate investigation unit (for the Maoists) in Sundarijal, Kathmandu and a rehabilitation center in Dhakaltar of Tanahun district.

The separate investigation unit will probe about the people alleged of being Maoists in a more transparent manner. The government expects this will dispel criticisms of secret and random investigations, which also has led to hundreds of cases of disappearances.

The latest move comes at a time when domestic and international human rights organizations have been criticizing for the growing incidents of ‘disappearances’ and illegal detentions. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said that more than 700 people have been ‘disappeared’ in such manner in the last couple of years.

Besides, the government has also said that it will help the rebels who surrender in every way it can. “We will provide them income-generating skills as well as help them if they want to go for foreign employment,” minister Thapa said. The rebels who surrender will be provided security together with their family members.

The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has already started works to set up rehabilitation centers in the east and west to house the Maoists, who have surrendered or those in detention. General Pradeep Pratap Bam Malla, chief of the eastern regional division of RNA, was recently reported in media to have said that the army is selecting appropriate locations for such centers. “Around 4000 Maoists are willing to stay in such centers at present. This effort has been initiated to educate and rehabilitate young Maoists who had taken up the guns in teen-age. They will be transformed into good citizens,” said Malla.

The general added that the RNA is seeking the help of domestic and international human rights organizations to run those camps successfully.