KATHMANDU: Nepal's Maoist rebels announced on Tuesday they were embarking on a comprehensive political makeover after promising to abandon their 10-year-old armed struggle. “Our whole party organisation will focus on peaceful political process rather than war,” rebel negotiator Dina Nath Sharma told AFP.
“Our party felt the necessity to change the party's war-time organisational structure,” Sharma said, adding that the four-member rebel committee will submit a report on the necessary changes “within a couple of days.”
Nepal's civil war has claimed some 12,500 lives, but last week the Maoists and the multi-party government struck a historic peace deal aimed at bringing the rebels into the Himalayan kingdom's political mainstream.The rebels and the government have been observing a ceasefire for just over six months, and have agreed to hold elections to a body that will rewrite Nepal's constitution before June 2007.
“Our party has already decided to dissolve the people's governments, local-level administration and our separate autonomous regions, among others, and restructure the party organisation as per the interest of the people,” said Sharma.
During their “people's war”, the rebels gained control of large swathes of Nepal's countryside and have been operating parallel government structures, including “people's courts” as well as health and education programmes.
The rebels and government are set to formally sign the peace deal later this week.
“Both the government and the Maoists are positive on signing the agreement on Thursday,” Pradeep Gyawali, government negotiator and minister for tourism and culture, told AFP.
The rebels also said that they would be ready to sign the accord.
“We (the government and the Maoists) are very much committed towards completing the draft of the peace accord on time and sign it by Thursday,” Dina Nath Sharma said.
“There has been no disagreement on any point to be included in the peace accord,” he said.
The Maoist announcement came as the United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, called on the rebels to return underage fighters and participants in their insurgency to their homes.“We are extremely concerned that children below 18, who have been associated with armed forces and armed groups in Nepal, have not yet been returned or reintegrated with their families and communities,” Suomi Sakai, Unicef’s Nepal representative, said in a statement.
The Maoists have frequently been accused by rights groups of recruiting people under 18, a charge they have denied.
“Some children are recruited not to fight but work as informants, cooks and messengers,” another UN official said, adding: “They have also been caught carrying parts that are used in improvised explosive devices.”
“The removal of children from armed forces and armed groups is imperative from a legal, human rights and humanitarian perspective,” Sakai said.
BLAME ON KING: Nepal's beleaguered monarch has been held responsible for the deaths of at least 18 people in April protests, but is unlikely to face any immediate sanction, local media reported on Wednesday.
“The final report will clearly mention the king as being responsible for the atrocities,” an unnamed member of an investigation committee told the Kathmandu Post.
Shortly after massive protests in April forced King Gyanendra to end his 14 months of direct rule, a new multi-party government set up a commission to investigate abuses of power during the three weeks of often violent protests.
“Since he is still the head of state, it is difficult practically to recommend any action against the king,” the commission member told the paper.
Contacted by AFP, a commission member declined to confirm the reports in several Nepali newspapers.
“We are still preparing the final report which will be submitted to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Nov 17,” said Ram Kumar Shrestha, a member of the commission.
“The commission has quizzed 296 persons and is giving the final touches to the report,” he said.
In October the five-member commission sent a list of questions to the king about his role as head of state during the mass protests, but he ignored their request.
Since the restoration of parliament, the king has had most of his powers removed, and been stripped of his control over the 90,000-strong Nepal Army.
But the Himalayan nation's 238-year-old monarchy now faces an uncertain future, with the government and fiercely republican Maoist rebels set to ink a peace deal that will pave the way for a new constitution.
