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FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000129 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: DISCHARGE OF DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS 
COMPLETE 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 00016 
 
Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i., Donald A. Camp. Reasons 1.4 (b 
/d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  The Maoist army discharged 268 combatants 
from the last of seven cantonments on February 8, marking a 
major political step forward in the peace process.  The 
ceremony was attended by members of the diplomatic community, 
including U.S. Charge Camp, and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal 
Dahal "Prachanda".  This marks the end of the discharge 
process for the 4,008 disqualified combatants, nearly 3,000 
of which had been disqualified because they had joined the 
Maoist army as minors.  The future of the discharged 
combatants is uncertain, although UN agencies will attempt to 
monitor the discharged combatants whereabouts and enroll them 
into rehabilitation programs throughout the next year.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On February 8, members of the international 
community, including the heads of mission from the UK, EU, 
Russia, China, France, Canada, Finland, Norway, Japan, and 
country directors from UNDP, UNMIN, and UNICEF arrived in the 
Maoist Cantonment Site of Rolpa, situated atop a ridgeline in 
the hills of western Nepal.  The region was a Maoist 
stronghold during the conflict, and the site of the first 
major battle between the Maoist army and the Nepal government 
in 2001.  Of the 451 combatants who were disqualified in 
2007, UNDP and UNICEF had recounted, issued new ID cards to 
and collected contact information from 268 disqualified 
combatants. 
 
DISCHARGE CEREMONY 
------------------ 
¶3.  (SBU) The discharge ceremony was an emotionally charged 
event.  The 268 disqualified combatants sat before Prachanda, 
Maoist army commander Nanda Kishor Pun "Pasang", deputy 
commander Chandra Prakash Khanal "Baldev", and political head 
Barshaman Pun "Ananta".  Roughly 100 Maoist army verified 
combatants in clean crisp Maoist army uniforms sat behind and 
around the disqualified, while Nepalis from nearby villages 
watched from the sides.  The local Nepal Police official and 
Armed Police Force official attended as well. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Prachanda told the disqualified that they had made 
sacrifices for the Maoist party during the "People's War," 
and their discharge was the latest sacrifice.  He said 
political groups were trying to disrupt the peace process, 
because they do not want to see a Maoist-drafted constitution 
passed in May.  The Maoists "have to demonstrate commitment 
to the peace process to keep the constitution moving, and 
therefore this discharge process is our contribution to the 
peace process.  History will tell who is disqualified and who 
served the nation, and you all qualify as serving the 
nation."  Pasang added that it was painful to send the 
disqualified away, and he expected them to "keep the struggle 
alive" and work on institutional change in their home 
villages as civilians.  Then the vice commander officially 
discharged the combatants. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The combatants then lined up to shake hands with 
Prachanda, Pasang and Baldev and receive a garland of 
flowers.  They boarded several buses -- with a new backpack 
of civilian clothes provided by the UN -- and departed to one 
of three nearby villages where they could take buses back to 
their home villages. 
 
DISQUALIFIED COMBATANTS DIVERSE GROUP 
------------------------------------- 
¶6.  (C) The disqualified combatants were a diverse and 
emotional group.  Some were crying during the final discharge 
announcement, but others were laughing and seemed excited to 
be leaving.  About 40 percent of the combatants were women. 
Some combatants were clearly still under 18 years of age, and 
at least five women combatants had infants with them.  They 
were all dressed in civilian clothes, per the requirement 
that they leave their uniforms at the cantonment.  UNMIN 
 
KATHMANDU 00000129  002 OF 003 
 
 
political officer Anuraj Jha reported that many disqualified 
told the UN they planned to stay involved in the Maoist party 
after they left. 
 
DISCHARGED COMBATANTS BY THE NUMBERS 
------------------------------------ 
¶7.  (SBU) Of the combatants disqualified in 2007, roughly 55 
percent were present for the discharge ceremonies.  The 
Maoist army vice commander in Rolpa said that many of the 
disqualified left over a year ago, a statement echoed in 
previous discharge ceremonies, according to UNMIN Chief Karin 
Landgren.  The Maoists discharged the following combatants: 
 
- Sindhuli: 371 disqualified, 201 discharged on January 7 
- Chitwan: 586 disqualified, 258 discharged on January 17 
- Nawalparasi: 622 disqualified, 361 discharged on January 21 
- Ilam: 876 diqualified, 476 discharged on January 25 
- Kailali: 468 disqualified, 334 discharged on January 31 
- Surkhet: 630 disqualified, 494 discharged on February 3 
- Rolpa: 451 disqualified, 268 discharged on February 8. 
 
¶8.  (C) The Maoists have promised to issue a declaration 
publicly discharging the disqualified combatants who were not 
present at the discharge ceremonies, according to UNDP Chief 
Robert Piper.  UNDP does not believe the disqualified are 
hiding out in the cantonments, and said that they likely 
"deserted" and might not want to be found by the Maoist army. 
 
 
CONCERNS ABOUT FUTURE 
--------------------- 
¶9.  (C) In order for the Maoists to be removed from the UN 
list of groups that use child soldiers, they agreed to allow 
the UN to monitor the former combatants for six months. 
UNDP, OHCHR, and UNICEF will spot check the locations and 
activities of discharged combatants and will visit 
cantonments and other Maoist offices to look for evidence 
that discharged combatants have re-joined Maoist militant 
organizations.  As part of the discharge process, UNICEF took 
cell phone numbers of almost all the disqualified.  UNDP Head 
of Peacebuilding and Recovery Unit Michael Brown acknowledged 
monitoring will be a very challenging task.  Roughly ten 
percent of the disqualified have already contacted the UN 
about accessing rehabilitation programs (reftel).  However 
not everyone will take advantage of the programs.  Also, the 
disqualified are not prohibited from joining the United 
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) as a political 
member.  The monitors will have a difficult job sorting out 
who is rejoining the ranks of a militant organization (namely 
the Young Communist League), and who is becoming a regular 
civilian member of the party. 
 
MAOIST ARMS SECURE 
------------------ 
¶10.  (SBU) The international community toured the arms 
monitoring area and inspected the weapons containers with the 
Maoist Cantonment vice commander and Arms Monitors from 
UNMIN.  The weapons, in two 20 foot containers, were 
surrounded by a barbwire fence, alarmed, and monitored via 
video camera by UN Arms Monitors posted in a tent immediately 
next to the containers.  The weapons in the containers were 
mixed, but the majority were WWI-era .303 British Enfields. 
The Arms Monitors stated that weapons from the containers 
have never gone missing. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶11.  (C) The completion of the discharge of the disqualified 
combatants is a major political step that was unimaginable a 
few months ago.  It is also an indication the Maoists are 
shifting their tactics, to focus on completing the 
constitution.  This discharge also fulfills one of the U.S. 
benchmarks for removal from the terrorist exclusion lists. 
 
¶12.  (C) The UN and the Nepal Government watched this 
discharge process closely, for lessons to apply to the 
potential integration and rehabilitation of the roughly 
 
KATHMANDU 00000129  003 OF 003 
 
 
19,000 verified Maoist combatants.  However no one is willing 
to offer suggestions until high-level political decisions are 
made on how to integrate and rehabilitate these combatants. 
Our assessment is that the UN teams did a superb job of 
processing the disqualified combatants at each site, and 
could scale up to assist in processing the rest of the 
combatants if asked by the government. 
CAMP