Perspective (Spotlight Weekly)

Rocca with the Rocky Regime: You Rub Me, Master, in One Place but I have a Pain in Another

By Bipin Adhikari

Despite expectations to the contrary, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, who has left Nepal after completing her four day official visit was not able to leave any imprint on the politics in the country. Things stand as usual. Britain's special representative Sir Jeffrey James was also here just before her to meet the King, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, political leaders and representatives of NGOs to discuss the political situation in the kingdom. However, there does not seem to be any change on the undemocratic agenda of the government, the fight between Maoists and the security forces, and the vacuum left by the dismissal of representative government.

Rocca was coming at a time when the five stirring political parties had announced the 10th phase of their joint movement against the king’s regressive moves, accusing foreign powers, the United States among them, for siding with the monarchy against the parties. Rocca’s exclusive visit was also coinciding with the uproar over human rights abuses by the Royal Nepal Army personnel around the country. On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also come out with a list of illegal detentions by the security forces and the Maoists, with the former accounting for 579 of the 709 enforced disappearances. On that same day, Matthew Kahane, the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Nepal maintained in a speech delivered in the presence of Prime Minister Thapa that experience in a number of United Nations member states around the world is that when "disappearances" are adopted, (that is when detention is denied), it must be immediately eradicated.

This was Rocca's second visit to Nepal. Talking to reporters at Tribhuvan International Airport on arrival, Rocca had said the visit was a ‘routine fact finding mission’ to know about the latest developments in Nepal. Similarly, spokesperson at the US embassy Constance C Jones also had termed the visit a ‘routine fact finding mission.’ It was said that Rocca would report the findings to the US Congress and Foreign Secretary Colin Powell back in the United States. Though this visit termed ‘routine’ by the embassy officials, speculations were high on Rocca’s exclusive visit to Nepal this time. She had met a host of high-level personalities in Nepal including King Gyanendra, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, leaders of political parties and the top brass of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA). Significantly, she also had meeting with the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and India to Nepal.

At the end, a few hours before flying back to Washington DC, Rocca said all constitutional forces of Nepal, including the King and political parties, should unite to defeat the Maoist insurgency. There was no argument for restoration of democracy and an accountable system of decision making. Rocca had nothing to say on the need of accommodating Maoists in a full-fledged system of democracy, which is in peril since long, and to which the US never had words to sympathize. The message that enemies must be conquered was served to an establishment which has already lost the legitimacy to define who the enemies are, and who are not. A typical White House citizen, indeed. She said, "It's high time the King and political parties should coordinate to compel the Maoists to leave weapons." There is no disagreement at all on this point. But the issue is how the parties can play surrogate to establish the King, and eliminate themselves. A regime which has substituted all popular forces in the country, and trying to out-bargain the Maoists on the strength of the arms and ammunitions needed some other stuff. A group as large as of Maoists, which has already developed a taste for gun and gunpowder, is seldom defeated. The forms might change, so the nature of complexities, and their impact perhaps, but they will definitely rise up again in another shape. Her focus should not have been on defeating Maoists, the process towards which has already terrible human rights risks, but on accommodating them. But accommodation of the Maoists is only possible through the democratic process, which should have been a priority issue for her.

The December 18 announcement of the government of offering amnesty to those Maoists who surrender and renounce violence by February 12 is certainly a good advice whoever gave it to the government. Announcing the amnesty offer on December 18, it said it would also guarantee security, arrange rehabilitation and family reunions, and provide cash aid to the surrendering rebels. Minister Kamal Thapa, communicating this decision, added they would be given free education and medical treatment. A processing center was declared to have been established where they could surrender and they will be transferred to a rehabilitation center with full security from the government. The rebels would also receive money for relinquished guns and ammunition ranging from 200,000 rupees for automatic rifles to 1,000 rupees for muskets. As expected, the Maoist rebel leaders on December 20 rejected the offer by the Nepal Government of amnesty to rebels who surrender and renounce violence by February 12. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal issued a statement calling the Government offer "an extremely ridiculous and shameless exercise." He said, "it is just an attempt to cover up (government forces') defeat."

It is never like what Greek people describe as here the hens cackle, there they lay eggs. A strategy like this works only when the government commands popular legitimacy, and the rebels fall far below the civic standards. Additionally, the policy of the government does not explain how the rights of the victims are to be met with under international human rights law.

[Adhikari is a lawyer. He may be accessed at human_rights_nepal@yahoo.co.uk]