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Afghanistan/South Asia
Amnesia Int'l condemns Nepal self-defense groups
2005-08-04
Of course they do!
Vigilante groups used to fight against Maoist rebels in Nepal have caused an overall escalation in violence there, Amnesty International says.
Wonder if AI ever thinks it right for people to defend themselves ...
A new report by the human rights group criticises the government of Nepal for supporting these armed civilian groups.

In its report, Amnesty International says it is alarmed, accusing these forces of being responsible for a growing number of human rights abuses. "The creation of these village defence forces blurs the distinction between combatants and non-combatants, resulting in an increased number of civilian casualties," said Purna Sen, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific programme director.
Mostly Maoists ....
The forces are also, Amnesty says, putting more civilians at risk because Maoist rebels consider them a legitimate target.
The Maoists consider them a target anyway, which is why they formed self-defense groups ...
"Villagers told Amnesty International delegates that they were being terrorised by the (vigilante) groups, who were forcibly recruiting them, beating them, searching their houses and sexually harassing local women," the Amnesty statement said.

Some forces just act as guards, but others engage in active military-style patrols and search people's homes at night. The Amnesty report says there is ample evidence the Nepalese government is giving them practical help, including military training.
Which makes them more efficient, professional and competent; all bad according to AI ...
Nepal's home affairs minister told the BBC that was not true - but he did defend the idea of the defence forces. He supported them, he said, as a form of self-defence at this time of insurgency because government security forces simply did not have the resources to protect every village.

Concerns about these groups first surfaced last February when members of one village defence force killed 12 men accused of being Maoists. Amnesty International is now calling on the government to incorporate village volunteers into the police or military and to ban these armed civilian groups.
"Hey! You can't defend yourselves! That's ucky!"
Posted by:Steve White

#3  The other problem it creates for AI is the growing movement to have th4e U. N. make the right to bear arms a universal right.

And have you ever heard AI complain that in Iraq terrorists "blur the distinction between combatants and non-combatants, resulting in an increased number of civilian casualties,"
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-08-04 16:20  

#2  Damn fine John. Pleased to read 'ya.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-08-04 15:53  

#1  The strategy of using village self defense units is actually paying off for the Nepal Government. They are killing maoists in numbers the Nepali army cannot yet accomplish.

This of course is problematic for the human rights activists. When maoists kill villagers the human rights groups urge the Nepal Government to seek a peaceful settlement. They claim that no military solution is possible.

Well, a military solution is possible. The village self defense units and the Nepalese army can simply kill them all, or at the very least degrade them by attrition until they fade into irrelevancy.

Which is the problem (for Amnesty Interntional)
The human rights activists seek a delegitimization of the Nepali state (and neighboring Indian states as well), leading to incorporation of maoists within the government and eventual takeover.

The self defense units are exposing the lie. The problem is not violence. It is maoism. This is the 21st century and mao, marx and lenin have been consigned to the cesspit. The solution is for the maoists to stop being maoists, either voluntarily of at the end of a machete being wielded by a pissed off villager.

Being an uneducated villager, they have little tolerance for commies, unlike Amnesty International.

Posted by: john   2005-08-04 14:27  

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