Nepal: Civil War Atrocities Follow Royal Takeover
In Nepal’s civil war, both Maoist insurgents and the Royal Nepali Army continue to attack civilians after the royal
takeover of power, violating the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch researchers in the southern town of Nepalgunj documented several attacks on civilians by both the
Maoist insurgents and government troops, including the Maoists' burning an ambulance and placing bombs in schools, and
government troops shooting and wounding two members of a wedding party.
King Gyanendra, who took over all executive authority on February 1 with military backing, has not yet delivered on his
promise to address the brutal civil war against Maoist insurgents, which has claimed the lives of some 11,000 people,
mostly civilians. Since February 10, the Maoist rebels have used extreme violence to enforce a strict nationwide strike
(or “bandh”) by blockading roads and attacking civilians who defy the ban on work or movement. Maoist fighters have
attacked civilian cargo trucks and passenger buses, and threatened to cut off the hands of drivers who defy the bandh.
“Army abuses since the royal power grab seem only to have spurred the Maoist rebels to commit further abuses of their
own,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “There is a real danger that war crimes in Nepal will
spiral out of control.”
The situation in Nepalgunj, at the junction of a north-south road to nearby India and the Mahendra highway, Nepal's
major east-west artery, provides a snapshot of the country’s deteriorating security situation. The Maoist insurgents'
bandh has stopped nearly all motor traffic on the Mahendra highway and nearby roads, cut the flow of commerce, including
scarce petrochemical products, and closed down schools. Meanwhile, government security forces heavily censor all local
press and monitor the activity of local human rights monitors.
In violation of the laws of war, Maoist forces on February 22 stopped and blew up an ambulance at a roadblock on the
Mahendra highway near Kohalpur village, 18 kilometers from Nepalgunj and about a kilometer and a half from the Kohalpur
Army Barracks. According to eyewitnesses, the ambulance was returning to the town of Dang with a released patient and a
relative after dropping off two patients at a hospital in Nepalgunj. A group of some ten Maoist fighters stopped the
ambulance at approximately 2:30 p.m. and demanded to know why the ambulance was defying the bandh. As the ambulance
driver and an ambulance company official tried to argue that they had a right to use the road, one of the Maoist
fighters threw an incendiary device—most likely a grenade—into the ambulance. The blast caused the oxygen tank on board
to explode and blow the roof off the ambulance; this led the Maoist fighters to believe that they were being attacked by
the Royal Nepali Army and flee. Under the laws of war, medical transport is protected at all times from attack. The
ambulance had been a gift from the Indian government on January 26, and was one of the few local ambulances equipped
with an oxygen tank.
Royal Nepali Army troops from barracks located at Aranico Maidan, on the road to Dang, on February 22 shot and wounded
two men who were part of a wedding party returning home. The two, a 15-year-old boy and a 56-year-old man, said they
were among 30 or so revelers, including the bride and groom, who were walking past an army checkpoint at approximately 7
p.m. Troops manning the checkpoint demanded they stop and put their hands in the air. Nearly immediately, some of the
troops fired between five to ten rounds at the group. An army major in command at the checkpoint quickly stopped the
shooting. The 15-year-old sustained injuries in both feet, likely from a bullet that ricocheted off his right heel; the
older man was shot in the left thigh, shattering the bone. The army has not claimed, as it has in some similar
circumstances in the past, that its actions were in self-defense or otherwise justified. Nor has the army announced any
investigation of the troops responsible for shooting at the group.
A roadside explosive, allegedly set by Maoist insurgents, on February 21 injured three people walking along Nepalgunj's
main thoroughfare, next to the Teaching Hospital. The bomb exploded around 7 p.m., causing shrapnel and ball-bearing
wounds to a 27-year-old man, whose artery in his left arm was severed, and to his two companions.
All government schools in Nepalgunj were closed after a number of explosives, allegedly set by Maoist rebels over the
past week, either detonated or were discovered by government troops. The Maoist insurgents have repeatedly demanded that
all schools and government offices should cease operations during their indefinite bandh. Local authorities have not
stated when the schools will reopen again.
“Throughout the civil war, we've witnessed shocking disregard for the security of civilians by both the army and the
rebels,” Adams said. “Both sides claim to be fighting on the side of the people, but in fact their main targets have
been Nepal's civilians.”
Human Rights Watch called on both the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Royal Nepali Army to immediately
instruct their forces not to attack civilians or civilian objects in keeping with the basic tenets of the laws of war,
and to discipline any troops responsible for abuses.