VZCZCXRO8801
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #1178/01 3650901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 310901Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1222
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 7260
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 7600
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2946
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 5641
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 6739
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3415
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 4899
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2504
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 3784
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001178 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  POLICE ILL-PREPARED IN WESTERN NEPAL 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 741 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  (SBU) Nepali Police Officers operate with 
obsolete equipment and are ill prepared to contribute during 
a national disaster or other emergency, EmbOffs found during 
a trip to Western Nepal.  Police facilities are in a state of 
disrepair and officers are forced to share cramped quarters, 
often in huts, with dirt floors.  Officers lack basic 
investigative equipment and rely solely on confessions or 
witness testimony.  Officers are armed with antiquated 
firearms, and the majority of vehicles are inoperable. 
Detention facilities are overcrowded and unsanitary.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  EmbOffs traveled to the Kailali, Bardiya, Banke, 
Dang, Kapilbasta, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Chitawan, and Kaski 
districts of Western Nepal, and met with senior police 
officers and community leaders.  The trip included visits to 
over 18 different police facilities to include district 
police offices, traffic police offices, border police posts, 
and community centers.  The police facilities were 
dilapidated, faced a shortage of equipment, and contained 
rudimentary facilities.  Some of the police facilities also 
contained temporary detention facilities.  All of the 
detention facilities were overflowing, some to the extent 
that detainees were forced to lay on one another. 
 
Low Police Salaries and Poor Standard of Living 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶3.  (SBU) The officers reside in cramped living quarters in 
crumbling buildings and in some instances huts, with thatched 
roofs, and dirt floors.  Beds consist of wooden cots, with no 
padding.  A building suitable for ten police officers would 
be crammed with over 50.  Washing facilities were normally 
outdoor, and kitchen facilities often consisted of a wooden 
shack.  The police are armed primarily with obsolete .303 
caliber British Enfields, and what little ammunition is 
available is corroded and unreliable.  The police are unable 
to effectively patrol their areas of operation due to lack of 
vehicles, or funds to maintain or repair the vehicles.  The 
Kaski District police office contains 16 vehicles and has an 
annual budget of 50,000 Nepal Rupe (NPR), approximately USD 
670.00, for fuel, maintenance, and repair.  The average 
salary for a constable is 10,000 NPR per month, approximately 
USD 134.00, and fortunately some are able to receive postings 
to the United Nations (UN) for comparatively-lucrative 
peacekeeping missions.  Two police inspectors remarked that 
many who enlist in the traffic police force do so because of 
the constant exposure to the public, which equals more 
opportunities to receive bribes. 
 
Crime Rate 
---------- 
¶4.  (SBU) None of the sites visited reported high crime 
rates.  Officers explained the border along Western Nepal was 
less used than in the East and, consequently, there were 
fewer cases of drug smuggling, human trafficking, or armed 
group activity.  Drug abuse was on the rise and the most 
common drug involved consisted of Indian Heroine, more 
commonly known as "brown sugar."  Due to the open border with 
India, small amounts of heroine are easily bought into Nepal. 
 The amounts carried are usually less than 100 grams, which 
avoids the stiff penalties of possession over 100 grams.  Of 
those arrested for drug use in the city of Pokhara, a primary 
tourist destination in Nepal, all were locals. 
 
Appalling Detention Facilities 
------------------------------ 
¶5.  (SBU) In most cases, detention facilities were converted 
from office spaces by installing an iron door and placing a 
hole in the corner of the room for a toilet.  The stench from 
the facilities could be smelled from several meters away. 
One such facility was designed to hold 60 inmates and was 
packed with over 200.  The women were kept separated from the 
men and were normally detained for drugs and prostitution. 
The police reported few instances of human trafficking and 
explained that trafficking is normally a difficult crime to 
prosecute because of the manner in which the girls travel. 
 
KATHMANDU 00001178  002 OF 002 
 
 
Many are promised employment as household servants in foreign 
countries and sign a release waiver as a term of employment. 
If pressed into the sex trade, many of the victims believe 
the release waiver prevents them from pressing charges. 
 
Special Security Plan/Local Peace Committees Absent 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶6.  (SBU) None of the sites visited have received financial 
assistance from the Government of Nepal's Special Security 
Plan (SSP) (reftel).  Police buildings damaged during the 
insurgency remained untouched.  One senior officer described 
the SSP as nothing more than a motivational speech because it 
lacks both strategy or financial support.  Police officers 
were unaware of any active Local Peace Committees and opined 
that money allocated for specific projects is diverted before 
reaching its intended destination.  Police Superintendent 
Ramesh Khalel stated that funds never reach their proper 
destination due to government corruption. 
 
Maoist Support and Young Communist League Activity 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶7.  (SBU) Officers have not witnessed any recent increase or 
decrease in Maoist support.  Most noted that the People's 
Liberation Army (PLA) cantonment camps remained quiet and 
aside from the occasional scuffle between the Maoist 
affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) and the United 
Marxist Leninist (UML) Youth Force, the YCL did not cause 
problems.  YCL members do not advertise themselves as Maoist 
affiliates and the only way to differentiate them from other 
Maoist affiliates would be their level of fanaticism towards 
the Maoist Party.  Only in the Chitawan District did officers 
mention YCL corruption of local businesses, and remarked that 
the YCL routinely involve themselves in official matters. 
Despite attempts to repeat of rephrase the question, the 
officers would not elaborate. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶8.  (SBU) The biggest issue facing the Nepal Police community 
in Western Nepal is not crime of armed groups, but 
substandard living, lack of equipment, and consequently low 
morale.  The instability of the Nepal Government has left 
Senior Police Officers fearing for their careers, and the 
uncertainty over their future government leadership prevents 
them from making key decisions.  The issue of the condition 
of the Nepal Police Force will likely continue to be brushed 
aside until the government reaches some semblance of 
stability.  In the meantime officers will remain ill prepared 
to face any threat, whether criminal elements or a natural 
disaster. 
BERRY