UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution establishing a political mission in Nepal to enforce a peace agreement between Maoist rebels and a seven-party government and oversee election to a Constituent Assembly.
The U.N. Mission in Nepal was established Tuesday with a one-year mandate to monitor the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and assist in election of the assembly. The mission is charged with monitoring the management of arms and armed personnel of both sides through a Joint Monitoring Coordinating Committee.
It will provide technical support for the planning, preparation and conduct of the election and provide a small team of electoral monitors to review all technical aspects of the electoral process and report on how the election was conducted.
The council also said it would terminate or extend UNMIN's mandate on the request of the Nepalese government, taking into consideration U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's expectation the mission would be a brief, focused mission.
The resolution said the council was acting on "the stated commitment of both parties to transforming the existing cease-fire into a permanent and sustainable peace." It noted the request came from the "Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)."
The measure said it was in response to the "strong desire of the Nepalese people for peace and the restoration of democracy" and that the mission would "assist the parties through a Joint Monitoring Coordinating Committee in implementing their (cease-fire) agreement on the management of arms and armed personnel of both sides."
The Nepalese had requested up to 35 monitors and 25 electoral personnel and the council last month indicated it was prepared to support such a mission.
A report prepared under former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and released under new Secretary-General Ban explained that since 1990 Nepal had undergone considerable turbulence attempting to embrace more open political and economic systems.
Nepal achieved democratic rule in April 1990 following a "people's movement," but faced internal armed conflict after the Maoists launched an insurgency in 1996.
Estimates of those who disappeared during the following decade of armed conflict range from 1,000 to 5,000 people. Tens of thousands were displaced as a result of war, and sexual violence was common, the secretary-general's report said.
The conflict was also characterized by consistent patterns of impunity for serious human rights abuses, it said. Numerous minors, including girls, were involved in the conflict as Maoist army combatants. The armies of both sides also utilized minors as messengers, sentinels, informers, cooks and in other support functions, including paramilitary activities, said the report.
However, the conflict also increased women's visibility and many women and girls joined the Maoist army, making up an estimated 40 per cent of Maoist combatants.
Nepal faced a deepening crisis of governance after the collapse of a first cease-fire and peace talks between the government and Maoists in 2001 and the suspension of Parliament in 2002, the report said.
In October 2002, King Gyanendra, who had acceded the throne following the death of his brother, King Birendra, in a June 2001 palace massacre, dismissed the prime minister and ruled until February 2005 through a series of appointed prime ministers.
A second cease-fire and peace talks between the government and the Maoists collapsed in August 2003 in an atmosphere of mutual mistrust.
In February 2005, the king dismissed his appointed prime minister and cabinet and assumed executive powers while directing a harsh crackdown on mainstream democratic parties, the media and civil society, the U.N. report said.
The king's assumption of sweeping and direct authority threatened to prolong and escalate the conflict while creating a risk of state collapse, it said. At the same time, the king's policies and their failure to bring about peace united disparate political and social forces against royal rule and towards a common basis for the restoration of democracy and long-term peace.
In November 2005, the Seven-Party Alliance of parliamentary parties and the communists signed a 12-point understanding vowing to "establish absolute democracy by ending autocratic monarchy," the report said.
The groundbreaking understanding, coupled with the Nepalese people's strong desire for peace and restoration of democracy, helped establish the foundation for the emergence of broad-based people's movement, the report said.
In April 2006, mass demonstrations across the country, with strong participation by women and marginalized groups, brought an end to the King's direct rule, led to the restoration of Parliament and a mutual cease-fire, and opened the way for further negotiations between the alliance and the Maoists.
The parties signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement Nov. 21, 2006, consolidating earlier agreements and understandings, and declared an end to the war.
It was the culmination of a year-long process of negotiation between the signatories and expressed the desire to end a conflict that had claimed more than 130,000 lives.
All parties have now agreed to the election of a Constituent Assembly as the foundation for a more inclusive democratic system able to address the country's persistent problems of social exclusion.
