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Katmandu Protests: 12/15/05

Royal Nepalese Army Guns Down 13 Civilians at Nagarkot

By the Collective Campaign for Peace

Katmandu, Nepal, December 15, 2005: Thirteen people died from gunshot wounds when a group of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) soldiers fired their weapons into a crowd celebrating Purnima Jatra (Full Moon Day) on the premises of the Kalidevi Temple at Chihandanda-6, Nagarkot. The Wednesday bloodshed was in retaliation for the beating of a military comrade, who was accused of harassing a local woman during the public gala.

According to an RNA statement, 16 people at Birendra Army Hospital and 3 at the TU teaching hospital in Maharajgunj are currently undergoing treatment after receiving nonfatal injuries during the chaos. The bodies of the thirteen people who were killed, including a member of army personnel, have not been released to relatives.

The Home Ministry of Nepal said that a small team led by former Supreme Court Justice Top Bahadur Singh would be responsible for conducting an investigation into incident. Attorney General Prem Bahadur Bishtha and Deputy Attorney General Drona Raj Regmi are the two other officials in the three-member team.

The soldiers implicated in the affair were all garrisoned at the Nagarkot barracks. The soldier who was assaulted also initiated the shooting.

Alliance of Seven Political Parties Hold King Responsible for Nagarkot Slayings

The deaths of the 13 people provided a lurid background for the Seven Party Alliance to stage a pro-democracy after the incident.

The Seven Party Alliance is a reform-minded political coalition that supports the installation of a democratic government in Nepal.

The demonstration was scheduled prior to the killings. Early in the day, events were held in separate areas of the city, but later the rallies converged for a mass meeting at New Baneshwor. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) led the rally at Gaushala; the Nepali Congress led the gathering at Maitighar; and the Nepali Congress (Democratic), People's Front Nepal, Nepal Sadavawana Party (Anandidevi), Nepal Worker and Peasant Party (NWPP), and United Left Front led the activities at Tinkune.

The mass meeting was addressed by Girija Prashad Koirala of the Nepali Congress, Madhav Nepal of CPN-UML, Gopal Man Shrestha of Nepali Congress (Democratic), Amik Sherchan of People's Front Nepal, Narayan Man Bijukchen of NWPP, Bharat Bimal Yadav of Nepal Sadavawana Party (Anandidevi) and Krishna Bahadur Shrestha of United Left Front.

The speakers at the mass meeting charged that King Gyanendra should bear the blame for the killings, an allusion to the situation in Nepal where the king’s power rests on his control of the military.

Tens of thousands people joined the demonstration, and leaders called for a general strike in the Katmandu Valley on Friday, December 16, to protest the killings.

- COCAP Human Rights Monitoring Team.