Four months and one day after a ceasefire agreement was reached in Nepal, the Bush administration has issued a document that places the CPN(Maoist) on its list of terrorist organizations. Yes, this is the same CPN(Maoist) that the Government of Nepal has stated that it does not consider to be a terrorist organization. The same CPN(Maoist) that all the political parties of Nepal, across the spectrum from right to left, recognize as a legitimate political organization. The same CPN(Maoist) that is currently sitting in negotiations with an unelected royalist government. In those talks the CPN(Maoist) has presented such "terrorist" demands as: multi-party competition, periodic elections, rule of law, free primary education... !
Make no mistake about it: this declaration is a direct, and calculated, attempt by the United States to de-rail peace talks, and to prevent any meaningful -- that is to say, genuinely democratic -- process of change in Nepal. It is a shameful and shameless action that should be condemned by anyone who cares for Nepal, cares for peace, cares for the right of peoples to determine their own future.
This action by the Bush Administration appears to be part of its preparations for further military intervention in Nepal. On 25 April, 2003 US officials and representatives of the unelected royal government of Nepal signed a "Memorandum of Intent", formalizing Nepal's participation in the "Antiterrorism Assistance Program" of the US government. US military "advisors" are already in the country. Millions of dollars of military aid have already been provided to the state security forces. By the government's own figures, at least 3/4ths of those killed during the civil war have been killed by the side receiving US military aid. Those forces have been proven to have engaged in massive human rights abuses, including torture and execution in custody, and shooting down unarmed civilians in cold blood. But the US is silent about these barbarous acts. Or rather, it shouts its support in the form of more and more weaponry to continue the same
The US is now positioning itself to take any action it pleases in Nepal, as it continues its destructive rampage across the globe.
Patterns of Global Terrorism-2002
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
April 30, 2003
Appendix C: Background Information on Other Terrorist Groups
[text on Maoists in full]:
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
Description
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) insurgency grew out of the increasing radicalization and fragmentation of left-wing parties following the emergence of democracy in 1990. The United PeopleÕs FrontÑa coalition of left-wing partiesÑparticipated in the 1991 elections, but the Maoist wing failed to win the minimum 3 percent of the vote leading to their exclusion from voter lists in the 1994 elections. In response, they abandoned electoral politics and in 1996 launched the insurgency. The MaoistsÕ ultimate objective is the takeover of the government and the transformation of society, probably including the elimination of the present elite, nationalization of the private sector, and collectivization of agriculture.
Activities
The Maoist insurgency largely engages in a traditional guerrilla war aimed at ultimately overthrowing the Nepalese Government. In line with these efforts, the Maoist leadership has allowed some attacks against international targets in an attempt to further isolate the Nepalese Government. In 2002, Maoists claimed responsibility for assassinating two US Embassy guards, citing anti-Maoist spying, and in a press statement threatened foreign embassyÑincluding the USÑmissions, to deter foreign support for the Nepalese Government. Maoists, targeting US symbols, also bombed Coca-Cola bottling plants in April and January 2002 and November 2001. In May, Maoists destroyed a Pepsi Cola truck and its contents.Strength
Numbering in the thousands
Location
Nepal
External Aid
None
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