Reuters, The New York Times
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2006
On Thursday, the royal government struggled mightily to dam a tide of pro-democracy protest. But it broke through anyway, resembling a carnival in some places, wreaking violence in others, but everywhere registering a loud resistance to a 18-hour curfew imposed by King Gyanendra, as emissaries from Nepal's most vital ally, India, met with the monarch in a bid to break a hardening political impasse. The demonstrations Thursday, which the government had tried to head off with the curfew, brought out tens of thousands of protesters to rallies big and small at several sites on the edges of the heavily fortified city center. The worst violence occurred at midday in the Kalanki neighborhood, where security forces fired on a crowd, killing three people and wounding as many as 100, according to officials at two city hospitals where the wounded were treated. Two of the dead appeared to have been shot in the head, a hospital official said. The protests Thursday, called by a coalition of Nepal's seven largest political parties, marked the 15th day of demonstrations demanding a restoration of parliamentary rule. Amid the protests Thursday, men and women huddled around portable radios in anticipation of news from the palace to stave off further crisis. But no news came. In recent days, the king has said only that he would welcome dialogue. The political parties organizing the protests have vowed to continue them until he restores Parliament and relinquishes control of the government. "We are people of the 21st century," shouted Prakash Muni Dahal, 60, a teacher who violated the curfew to join the throngs on the streets. "We will rule our country." Around him, a boisterous crowd in a brick-strewn neighborhood known as Chabahil, on the edge of the city, burned the king's picture and called for his demise. "Gyaney!" they shouted, using the diminutive form of his name, once unthinkable here in the last Hindu kingdom in the world. "Hang him!" Following a meeting with the king Thursday morning, Karan Singh, the son of a former Indian maharaja and related by marriage to Nepal's royal family, hinted that fresh moves by the palace were imminent. "Now the ball is squarely in the court of the king," Singh, a special envoy of the Indian government, said on his return to New Delhi, according to Reuters. "I am hopeful that very shortly some sort of announcement will be made by him, which will help considerably defuse the situation." Meanwhile, in what it condemned as a "clear violation" of an agreement with the government, the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Katmandu said it had been blocked from routine monitoring of demonstrations. Ambulances were restricted in their ability to travel on the roads, and the International Committee of the Red Cross and foreign diplomats were denied permission to move about in Katmandu during the curfew. The government refused to issue passes to journalists as well, although in some places, security forces, distracted by demonstrators, left the press alone. "This shows the government is really scared," said Sudarshan Rimal, 27, a restaurant worker trapped behind the locked fence of his house, as rows of police officers and soldiers stood guard on both sides of the ring road that encircles the city center. "It's not necessary to impose a 18-hour curfew. People are doing a peaceful movement." By evening, the government announced that it would extend the curfew by another seven hours, to 3 a.m. Friday. The latest protests mark 16 years of Nepal's fitful experience with democracy, since parliamentary elections were held in 1990. With a Maoist insurgency in the countryside and politicians scrapping among themselves in Katmandu, Parliament was dissolved by the then-elected prime minister in 2002, elections were postponed and a series of prime ministers appointed and dismissed by the king. The last of them was removed in February 2005, when Gyanendra assumed total control of the government, with a promise to end the bruising Maoist insurgency. It is estimated that 13,000 Nepalese have been killed in the conflict, the majority of them during Gyanendra's five-year tenure. KATMANDU, Nepal Nepal's government reimposed a daytime curfew in the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday after political parties announced they would hold fresh anti-monarchy protests and try to march on King Gyanendra's palace.On Thursday, the royal government struggled mightily to dam a tide of pro-democracy protest. But it broke through anyway, resembling a carnival in some places, wreaking violence in others, but everywhere registering a loud resistance to a 18-hour curfew imposed by King Gyanendra, as emissaries from Nepal's most vital ally, India, met with the monarch in a bid to break a hardening political impasse.The demonstrations Thursday, which the government had tried to head off with the curfew, brought out tens of thousands of protesters to rallies big and small at several sites on the edges of the heavily fortified city center.The worst violence occurred at midday in the Kalanki neighborhood, where security forces fired on a crowd, killing three people and wounding as many as 100, according to officials at two city hospitals where the wounded were treated. Two of the dead appeared to have been shot in the head, a hospital official said.The protests Thursday, called by a coalition of Nepal's seven largest political parties, marked the 15th day of demonstrations demanding a restoration of parliamentary rule.Amid the protests Thursday, men and women huddled around portable radios in anticipation of news from the palace to stave off further crisis. But no news came. In recent days, the king has said only that he would welcome dialogue. The political parties organizing the protests have vowed to continue them until he restores Parliament and relinquishes control of the government."We are people of the 21st century," shouted Prakash Muni Dahal, 60, a teacher who violated the curfew to join the throngs on the streets. "We will rule our country."Around him, a boisterous crowd in a brick-strewn neighborhood known as Chabahil, on the edge of the city, burned the king's picture and called for his demise. "Gyaney!" they shouted, using the diminutive form of his name, once unthinkable here in the last Hindu kingdom in the world. "Hang him!"Following a meeting with the king Thursday morning, Karan Singh, the son of a former Indian maharaja and related by marriage to Nepal's royal family, hinted that fresh moves by the palace were imminent."Now the ball is squarely in the court of the king," Singh, a special envoy of the Indian government, said on his return to New Delhi, according to Reuters. "I am hopeful that very shortly some sort of announcement will be made by him, which will help considerably defuse the situation."Meanwhile, in what it condemned as a "clear violation" of an agreement with the government, the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Katmandu said it had been blocked from routine monitoring of demonstrations.Ambulances were restricted in their ability to travel on the roads, and the International Committee of the Red Cross and foreign diplomats were denied permission to move about in Katmandu during the curfew. The government refused to issue passes to journalists as well, although in some places, security forces, distracted by demonstrators, left the press alone."This shows the government is really scared," said Sudarshan Rimal, 27, a restaurant worker trapped behind the locked fence of his house, as rows of police officers and soldiers stood guard on both sides of the ring road that encircles the city center. "It's not necessary to impose a 18-hour curfew. People are doing a peaceful movement."By evening, the government announced that it would extend the curfew by another seven hours, to 3 a.m. Friday.The latest protests mark 16 years of Nepal's fitful experience with democracy, since parliamentary elections were held in 1990.With a Maoist insurgency in the countryside and politicians scrapping among themselves in Katmandu, Parliament was dissolved by the then-elected prime minister in 2002, elections were postponed and a series of prime ministers appointed and dismissed by the king.The last of them was removed in February 2005, when Gyanendra assumed total control of the government, with a promise to end the bruising Maoist insurgency. It is estimated that 13,000 Nepalese have been killed in the conflict, the majority of them during Gyanendra's five-year tenure.
Die seit 15 Tagen anhaltenden Massenproteste auf den Straßen Kathmandus gingen auch gestern weiter. Die Zeitung „Die Welt“ berichtet unter Berufung auf Krankenhausangaben von drei getöteten Demonstranten in der nepalesischen Hauptstadt, die trotz einer verhängten Ausgangssperre Schauplatz von Massendemonstrationen eines in Nepal bisher unbekannten Ausmaßes ist. Die Krankenhausärzte berichten von etwa 40 verletzten Personen, die sich in kritischem Zustand befänden.

Die Behörden hatten eine 18-stündige Ausgangssperre verhängt, um zu verhindern, dass Demonstranten ihren angekündigten Marsch auf die verbotene Zone der Hauptstadt in die Tat umsetzten. Die Missachtung der Anordnung wurde mit der Drohung verbunden, jeden zu erschießen, der sich nicht an das Verbot halte.

Zu den Zusammenstößen mit der Polizei kam es, als sich etwa 30.000 Menschen auf dem Weg von den Vororten der Hauptstadt in Richtung auf das Zentrum bewegten. In dem Vorort Kalanki versuchten Polizisten, die Straße zu blockieren, um die Demonstranten am weiteren Vormarsch zu hindern. Dabei wurden auch Tränengas und Gummigeschosse eingesetzt. Augenzeugen berichteten auch von der Verwendung von scharfer Munition.

Diplomaten, Journalisten und Vertretern von Menschenrechtsorganisationen war es nicht erlaubt, sich frei zu bewegen. So konnten die Vorgänge von ausländischen Bürgern nur in geringerem Umfange als in den vergangenen Tagen beobachtet werden.

Die Demonstranten einer Allparteienkoalition gegen die autokratische Machtausübung des Königs Gyanendra, der vor 14 Monaten die absolute politische Macht an sich gezogen und die gewählte Regierung kurzerhand abgesetzt hatte, fordern den Rücktritt des Königs und die Übergabe der politischen Macht an eine Übergangsregierung.

Inzwischen wächst auch der internationale Druck auf den Himalayastaat. Ein Abgesandter Indiens traf in der nepalesischen Hauptstadt ein, um die Besorgnis des eng verbündeten Nachbarlandes über die Situation in Nepal zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Vertreter der Menschenrechtsorganisation „Human Rights Watch“ prangerten die Brutalität der Polizei bei ihrem Vorgehen gegen die Demonstranten an, die dabei auch nicht vor Gewaltanwendung gegenüber Kindern zurückschrecke.

Neun Menschen sollen von Polizeikräften getötet und über 2.000 Menschen im Zuge der Demonstrationen bisher verletzt worden sein. Von etwa 1.000 Verhaftungen ist die Rede.

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