Introduction
Over the last nine years, there has been growing international concern about increasingly widespread human rights abuses committed by both sides in the escalating armed conflict between the security forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) after the latter declared a "people's war" in February 1996.
Governments of countries named in this report, in particular India, the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), have provided substantial levels of arms, training and other military assistance to Nepal throughout this period. The assistance increased after November 2001, when the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) became directly involved in the conflict. In Amnesty International's view, such assistance has enabled an increase in grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
After 1 February 2005, when Nepal's King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev took direct power and imposed a state of emergency, India, Nepal's main source of military assistance, and UK suspended their military assistance. The USA however did not explicitly suspend its military assistance. It stated that no deliveries were scheduled and that it would review military assistance on a case by case basis. Amnesty International understands that the US authorities subsequently postponed some US military assistance, but not all. On 25 May 2005, the US embassy in Kathmandu clarified that the US had never suspended "non-lethal" military assistance to Nepal. It stated that no lethal assistance had been provided since 1 February 2005 and confirmed that the issue of military assistance to Nepal remained under constant review.
India has also kept its military assistance to Nepal under constant review since the suspension in early February. On 10 May 2005, after much speculation, India's Ministry of External Affairs announced that supplies that had been in the pipeline would be resumed in the wake of the lifting of the state of emergency in late April and the release of some political leaders. On 24 May 2005, the Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Security reportedly decided to restrict military assistance to non-lethal supplies that are otherwise commercially available; including jeeps, night vision goggles and bullet-proof jackets. It also decided to keep the issue of military aid under constant review.(1)
The UK government is not known to have provided any military assistance since 1 February 2005. In late February 2005 it stated it was carrying out a "full review of [its] policy with regard to the provision of military assistance and equipment to Nepal."(2) Previously, it had maintained that all military gifts to Nepal were "non-lethal" (see below).
This report describes the kind of military assistance provided by the three key governments mentioned above. It also includes brief references to training provided to the security forces of Nepal, including at places such as the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, UK; the Military Academy at Dehra Dun, India; and the Command and General Staff College at Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. In addition, the report addresses briefly the supply of arms by private companies and the role these three governments and others play in providing export licences for such sales.
Amnesty International is appealing to the above three and other relevant governments to suspend or continue to suspend all transfers of arms and related logistical and security supplies to Nepal that can reasonably be expected to facilitate grave human rights violations until effective safeguards are in place to protect civilians from grave human rights abuses. Amnesty International is advocating that this suspension should include transfers of what is claimed to be "non-lethal" equipment, unless it has a strictly humanitarian application and its use is monitored independently.
Amnesty International is also appealing to the United Nations (UN) to verify that Nepalese security forces personnel who are to be deployed in UN peacekeeping operations have not been implicated in human rights violations in Nepal.
Furthermore, the organization is calling on the governments of the Group of Eight (G8) -- who will be meeting at Foreign Minister and Heads of Government level under the presidency of the UK on 23 June and from 6 to 8 July respectively -- to include a discussion on military assistance to Nepal on the meetings' agendas. This appeal forms part of a wider campaign by Amnesty International, Oxfam and other organizations (3) urging G8 countries to exercise the highest degree of responsibility in international arms transfers and, specifically, to develop and adopt an Arms Trade Treaty covering the international transfer of all conventional arms with standards based on relevant principles of international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law.
Footnotes:
(1) Express News Service, 25 May 2005
(2) Parliamentary question 160, 21 February 2005, Adam Ingram written response to Clare Short
(3) The International Action Network on Small Arms Transfers which has about 600 NGO affiliates
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