Country Information

Nepal is a landlocked country, bordered by India and Tibet. With a population of 26 million, there are forty different ethnic groups in the country.  Nepal is predominantly Hindu (86%), with Buddhist (8%) and Muslim (4%) minorities.

Political and Economic Environment

Nepal has seen more than a dozen governments since 1991. In 1989, heightened pro-democracy movements and civil unrest led King Birendra, the ruler of Nepal, to institute a multi-party system and a new constitution. The new constitution ended almost thirty years of absolute monarchy and recognized the equality of all citizens and their fundamental rights. Economic power, however, remained largely in the hands of the elite.
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The Maoist faction of the Nepal Communist Party founded the United Peoples Front (SJM) in 1991.  SJM was active in parliamentary politics and became the third largest party in the House of Representatives until four years later when Comrade Prachanda left the SJM and formed the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-M). The SJM disintegrated in 2000.    

Maoists launched the “People’s War” shortly after CPN-M’s creation with the aim of abolishing the monarchy and establishing a new constitution within a communist system. Utilizing guerilla warfare tactics, kidnapping, violent intimidation, bombings, and indiscriminate killing, the Maoists have terrorized the nation since February 1996 in an effort to transform the socio-political and economic environment.  The wealthy elite of Nepal, however, have remained unyielding in the face of massive poverty, economic inequality and the ensuing violence.  

In June 2001, the Nepalese crown prince Dipendra murdered his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, and seven other members of the royal family before shooting himself. The royal massacre was a turning point, further eroding support for the monarchy in Nepal. Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King Birendra’s brother, used the support of the military to usurp executive control of Nepal in the wake of his brother’s murder. Gyanendra immediately assumed a harder stance against the Maoist rebels.

When a four-month ceasefire and three rounds of peace negotiations failed in November 2001, the government imposed a state of emergency, and ordered the military to stop the insurgency.  An official state declaration defined the Maoist rebels as “terrorists,” and violence escalated. The Maoists more frequently attacked schools and government facilities and fighting with the Nepalese army and security forces increased.

Negotiations were restarted in January of 2003 with a new ceasefire agreement, but they failed by August and fighting between the rebels and government forces resumed. Despite the establishment of a broad-based coalition government by Prime Minister Dueba in May of 2004 and King Gyanendra’s promise to hold parliamentary elections in 2005, the Maoist forces continued their struggle.

The Nepali economy continues to suffer due to the protracted conflict with Maoist rebels.  Tourism, a major source of revenue for the country, has decreased exponentially, as has trade with India, Nepal’s key trading partner.  Transportation and communication difficulties have further impeded the growth of industry and trade, as the Maoists have led successful blockades of the nation’s capital and market centers.

Citing increasing need to suppress the Maoist insurgency, Gyanendra defied the country’s constitution and assumed full executive control of Nepal by royal proclamation in February 2005. Gyanendra, illegally ordered a state of emergency, sacked the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, dismissed the government of Nepal indefinitely, suspended civil liberties, and ordered thousands of troops into the western mountains to confront the rebels. At Gyanendra’s order, the military arrested and detained the former Prime Minister and members of the Council of Ministers, prominent pro-democracy political leaders, human rights activists, journalists, and student opposition leaders. Despite termination of the national “state of emergency” and verbal commitments to democracy, Gyanendra’s rule over Nepal remains increasingly authoritarian and militaristic.

Humanitarian Situation

Since the onset of the “People’s War,” nearly 12,000 people have been killed, two thirds at the hands of the government and one third at the hands of the Maoists, according to Nepal’s independent human rights group INSEC.  With thousands of families residing in makeshift camps within the capital, having fled rebel-controlled areas of the East and West, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people are displaced as a result of the violent conflict.

Over the course of the protracted conflict, both the Nepalese military and Maoist insurgents have committed gross human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, kidnapping, extrajudicial executions, targeting of civilian populations, indiscriminate bombing, torture and rape. The Maoist insurgents are also responsible for the abduction and recruitment of children into armed conflict, a war crime under international law.

The internally displaced have, at times, themselves been the target of arbitrary detention at the hands of government forces. When members of a makeshift camp for the displaced marched near the royal palace in a silent protest, pleading for food and shelter, they were arrested by government security forces.

Today, the United Nations estimates that nearly half of the Nepalese population lives below the poverty line. Sixty percent of households are chronically food insecure, able to cultivate only six months of food from their land. The severe lack of educational opportunity for children, exacerbated by the closure of 700 schools as a result of targeted Maoist attacks on private schools, has resulted in an adult literacy rate under 40%.

An improvement in current conditions is unlikely as continued conflict between the Maoist insurgency and the government’s armed forces is escalating with no resolution in sight. Continued violence will result in further displacements of Nepalese civilians. With continued disregard for basic human rights and a paucity of political will to address the needs of the displaced, widespread suffering will continue unabated. UN agencies and international relief organizations must be provided access to these marginalized populations in order to establish programming and begin the relief process. Until humanitarian conditions stabilize and the violent attacks diminish, Nepal’s displaced will remain unable to return home.

Updated June 2005