Sectretariat plans to dissociate combatants from party by Dec
KATHMANDU, DEC 02 -
A day after the appointment of its coordinator, the Special Committee Secretariat
has initiated discussion over an actionplan that will enforce the government’s supervision over the Maoist combatants living under the UN monitoring by the
end of this month.
Coordinator of the 12-member body retired Lieut. Gen. Balananda Sharma handed over a preliminary plan of action to Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire on Wednesday. The action plan aims to detach the former rebel soldiers from the chain of command of the Maoist party by the end of December, Sharma told the Post.
The plan of action has asked the government to make immediate arrangement for the recruitment of 154 retired personnel of different security agencies for enforcing the Special Committee’s supervision at the Maoist cantonment sites. As per the plan, 7 ex-security personnel will be deployed at each of the seven main cantonment sites to monitor the weapon storage containers and five personnel will be stationed for supervising each of the satellite cantonments.
According to a source, a 24-hour situation monitoring and operation centre will be installed at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to keep the cantonments under the government’s surveillance and carry out necessary instructions. Four representatives each from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and People’s Liberation Army will maintain round the clock vigilance at the 28 cantonment sites from the centre.
The action plan has also proposed shifting the regional cantonment management office located currently at the district headquarters of the main cantonment sites. The office will have to submit its daily, weekly and fortnightly reports on the overall situation of the cantonments to the secretariat. This has been already stipulated in the directives related to the supervision, command and control and code of conduct endorsed by the special panel on Sept. 17.
It has also asked the government to arrange 18 civil servants led by Joint Secretary at the secretariat and 5 civil servants in each of the main cantonment sites to look after the logistics.
Earlier Nepal Peace Trust Fund had agreed to finance the Secretariat. The multi-donor fund created by the government with the support of the UN has committed Rs. 100 million for the secretariat.
On Wednesday, Sharma intimated details of the proposed action plan with other secretariat members. He has requested Maoist representative Chandra Prakash Khanal to consult with the party leadership so that the plan can be finalised during the UN Under-Secretary General of Political Affair B Lynn Pascoe’s visit to Nepal.
“If the proposal of recruitment and infrastructure is endorsed by the government this week, we can establish the command of the Special Committee over the cantonments within this month,” said Sharma. “We are working to ensure that the Special Committee takes the command over the cantonments two weeks before the departure of UNMIN.” Another member of the secretariat Deepak Prakash Bhatta said the plan will be implemented once the Maoist representatives consent to it. “The action plan is under discussion. “We are ready to bring the combatants under the government but the chain of command of the People’s Liberation Army will continue hand in hand unless there is agreement among parties on the modality of integration and rehabilitation,” said Khanal.
“We have no objection to transferring the combatants under the government command and control following a special ceremony to mark the handover. But the Special Committee should fix the date for the handover.”
Proposal’s fundamentals
• To bring all the 28 cantonment sites under the Special Committee by Dec-end
• Recruitment of 154 former security personnel for supervision of cantonments
• Installation of 24-hour situation monitoring and operation centre at the MoPR
• Shifting cantonment management office from district HQ to main cantonment site
• Maoists want PLA’s chain of command remained intact unless modality is finalised.
Toreng urges downsizing NA
KATHMANDU: The Norwegian Government’s Special Envoy for Peace Tore Toreng has recommended to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala that the Nepal Army be downsised and democratised to reflect the new political set-up.
Due to the cost effective measures it is necessary to downsise the number of NA while it heads to the integration and rehabilitation process, Koirala quoted Toreng as saying.
In a meeting with Koirala, the visiting envoy expressed hope that Nepal’s ongoing peace process will land smoothly following UNMIN’s exit in mid-January.
“I met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal recently and he conveyed to me that UNMIN will not stay here after mid-January. All the responsibility that is currently being carried out by the UNMIN will be handed over to the Special Committee Secretariat. I advised him for a smooth landing of the peace process here,” she quoted Toreng as saying. (PR)
Posted on: 2010-12-02 08:51
| ISC secretariat plans to take over management and monitoring of PLA cantonments before UNMIN term ends |
| Thursday, 02 December 2010 10:01 | |||||||
Newly appointed coordinator of the secretariat formed by Army Integration Special Committee (AISC) to manage and monitor arms and former combatants staying in various cantonments across the country, Balananda Sharma, has prepared an action plan to take over the management and monitoring of the cantonments before United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) wraps up its operation in Nepal.
According to the plan presented by Sharma, a central Operation and Situation Centre and a security mechanism in each camp will monitor the former combatants and the arms, while a central Administration Section with representation in each camp will look after the monitoring. At present, the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Committee (JMCC) chaired by UNMIN is looking after the monitoring of arms and the former combatants in the cantonments, while the Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) is looking after the management. Sharma has proposed to constitute the Operation and Situation Centre with sixteen senior security officers including four officers each from Nepal Army (NA), Nepal Police (NP), Armed Police Force (APF) and People's Liberation Army (PLA). The Centre will operate 24 hours a day with three officers working in eight hour shifts and four officers in standby for back-up. The centre will be supported by monitoring mechanisms comprising of seven ex-security personnel in seven major camps and five ex-security personnel in 21 satellite camps. Likewise, the management of the cantonments will be overseen by an Administrative Division headed by a joint secretary of Nepal government. The head office of the Division will have two sections - planning and financial administration - each headed by an under-secretary comprising of 16 to 18 civil service employees including section officers, account officers, engineers, junior officers, and drivers. In addition, there will be five civil service employees in each camp for the management of the combatants. Sharma said, the representatives of other parties at the secretariat had already given their consent for the plan, while those of Unified CPN (Maoist) have said they would decide after consulting the party leadership. The handing over of the management and monitoring mechanisms can be completed within a month if an agreement is reached and permission to begin the recruitments given within a week, said Sharma. Sharma further said, the plan needs to complete before UNMIN wraps up. UNMIN term is ending on January 15. The secretariat comprises of Sharma and Shambhuram Simkhada referred by Nepali Congress, Chandra Prakash Khanal and Kul Bahadur KC referred by Unified CPN (Maoist), Bhatta and Gopal Singh Bohara referred by UML, Sadanda Prasad Kurmi and Ramananda Mishra referred by Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, brigadier general Mahesh Karki from Nepal Army, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Keshab Bahadur Shahi from Nepal Police and DIG Singha Bahadur Shrestha from APF. UCPN (Maoist) is yet to refer one representative from People's Liberation Army (PLA) for the secretariat. The party is likely to refer one of the division commanders - most likely Yam Bahadur Adhikari, the commander of the first division - to the secretariat. However, UCPN (Maoist) has said, the chain-of-command will not be handed over to the AISC until a clear model for integration and rehabilitation is finalised. Maoist military in-charge and member at the AISC Barsha Man Pun said, the secretariat will take over the command only after the modality of integration and rehabilitation is finalised. nepalnews.com |
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