Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp has said that the United States’ (US) primary objectives in Nepal are the restoration of multi-party democracy and the prevention of a Maoist takeover.

In his statement before the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific he said, “We believe that reconciliation between the King and the political parties and a return to democracy is the only path toward an effective counter-insurgency strategy and the restoration of security, government services, exercise of political rights and respect for human rights.”

He also said that he had reiterated the President’s message on Nepal – his call in New Delhi for the King to reach out to the parties and for the Maoists to foreswear violence during his visit to Nepal last week.

“The King has not initiated a dialogue with the parties and he is losing domestic support. The seven major political parties have been equally reluctant to engage with the King and have entered into a “12 Point Understanding” with the Maoists. But we believe that the Maoists must forswear violence before they can be considered a legitimate political force. Moreover, the agreement is flawed in that it does not commit the Maoists to abandon their campaign of violence,” he added.

“Maoist insurgents systematically employ violence and terror and commit human rights abuses including killings, torture, bombings, extortion, kidnapping and recruitment of child soldiers,” the top US official said.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the February 8 municipal elections, which was held without participation of the mainstream political parties and said, “The February 8 municipal elections, called by King Gyanendra, only showcased his increasing isolation.”

The top US official also described the one year long direct rule of the King as a failure and said, “Regrettably, democracy has not been restored, nor have human rights conditions significantly improved, since February 2005.”

He further said that in their struggle against the Maoists, Nepalese security forces have committed serious human rights abuses, including unaccounted-for detentions, disappearance of detainees, torture, and arbitrary and unwarranted use of lethal force.

On the refugee issue he said, the plight of refugees in Nepal is another critical human rights issue. The Bhutanese government’s policies in the early 1990s caused tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalese to leave Bhutan, he said. As a result, over 100,000 ethnic Nepalese refugees from Bhutan have been living in seven camps in southeastern Nepal. Despite fifteen years and fifteen rounds of formal negotiations between Bhutan and Nepal, no refugees have been permitted to return to Bhutan, he added.