NEPAL: Nepal's Maoists give up nearly 3,500 weapons, the chief U.N monitor says

Chief of the United Nations Mission In Nepal said the Maoists had given up nearly 3,500 weapons. UN completed registering former Maoist fighters and weapons last weekend. Nepal's Maoists have surrendered nearly 3,500 weapons as part of a peace deal with the government, but it was not clear if this accounted for all the arms in their possession, the chief U.N. monitor said on Friday (February 23). "The total includes 534 weapons that have been detained for perimeter security by designated guards, which is in accordance with the agreement, and 49 of the weapons are so far retained away from the cantonments... that's the weapons held by personal security details pending an understanding with government on arrangements for personal security of leaders," said Ian Martin, chief of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). Martin said UNMIN was yet to ascertain whether the weapons registered correspond to the full total held by the Maoists. "The registration of managed weapons has not, however, been completed. The agreement on monitoring of the management of arms and armies provides that security provisions would be made for CPNM (Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist) leaders, through understanding with the government. We have for sometime urged the parties to reach such an understanding," he said. Martin, however, added the Maoists had shown commitment to comply with the peace deal. "One of the hardest things to know is what weapons may have been purchased beyond those taken from the security forces. This is an indication that at least some weapons that didn't come from the security forces have been registered and stored," he said. The U.N. announcement is the first official account of the size of the Maoist army and its weapons since the peace deal ended a 10-year civil war in which more than 13,000 people were killed. The pact has seen the former rebels join a provisional parliament and they are also due to enter the interim cabinet before elections to a constituent assembly this year. Martin said the arms registered in seven main camps and stored in containers included mortars, machine guns, automatic rifles, shotguns and home-made weapons. In the past, the Maoists had said they had 35,000 fighters but had not given details of their arms. UNMIN, which completed registering former Maoist fighters and weapons at the weekend, said nearly 31,000 ex-guerrillas, most of them unarmed, had turned up at 28 camps set up under the November peace deal. "The total number of Maoist army combatants registered at the seven main cantonment sites, including those from the associated satellite cantonment sites is thirty thousand eight hundred and fifty two (30,852)," Martin told reporters. Villagers and rights groups in the Himalayan country also accuse the Maoists of recruiting people despite the peace process, which started in May in an apparent attempt to boost their numbers. International rights group, along with the United Nations, have also raised concerns over indications that recruitment of minors to the Maoist army was continuing. Martin said the UNMIN was taking a serious view of the matter, and screening of children would be actively done during the registration process. "In view of persistent concerns that minors and persons recruited after the ceasefire code of conduct continue to be associated with the Maoist army, particular efforts would be made to ensure full respect of the requirement of the agreement that any combatant found to be born after 25th of May 1988 will be honourably and automatically discharged," he said. The government and the Maoists had asked the U.N. to monitor the management of arms and armies under the peace deal. The U.N. will also provide officers to help Nepal's election commission hold the polls, the country's first in eight years. In the final phase of disarmament, the Nepal army will store an equal number of arms.

ITN Source | February 24, 2007

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