Nepal vigilantes destroy arms after peace deal

Kathmandu, Nov 25: Nepali vigilantes set up to protect villagers from Maoist rebels began destroying their weapons days after a peace deal formally ended the country's decade-old civil war, a human rights official said today.

Dozens of government-supported vigilantes, also called the village defence forces, had been active since 2005 and set up to protect rural populations from attacks by Maoists battling to overthrow Nepal's monarchy since 1996.

But human rights groups say their presence had actually increased violence in the impoverished Himalayan nation where more than 13,000 have been killed since the conflict began in 1996, human rights groups say.

Tej Man Shrestha, protection officer of the National Human Rights Commission, said some members of a vigilante group in the southern town of Nawalparasi, 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Kathmandu, handed over their weapons which were then set on fire.

''We have destroyed seven rifles, one pistol and other crude weapons belonging to the vigilante groups in Nawalparasi,'' Shrestha told Reuters by telephone from Nawalparasi.

''This is not a big number, but symbolically it is a very important step towards peace in villages.'' Dozens of people have been killed in violence linked to the vigilantes, who established themselves after King Gyanendra seized absolute power in February 2005 claiming he was acting to crush the Maoist rebels.

But Gyanendra was forced to hand power back to political parties in April after weeks of mass protests organised by the parties and supported by the Maoists.

The rebels have now agreed to store their weapons under the supervision of the United Nations and are expected to join an interim government under a peace deal signed on Tuesday.

''Villagers have also dissolved their group and promised to collect more weapons from the village and hand them over to us,'' Shrestha said.

''People in neighbouring districts have also approached us to collect weapons from members of vigilante groups in their areas.'' The vigilante groups were active in a few districts in central Nepal and mainly used knives, muskets and spears but also had fire arms, human rights groups say.

Reuters

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