Recent media reports have portrayed UNMIN as responsible for the overall management and supervision of Maoist army cantonments, and movements of Maoist army personnel. This is not the role UNMIN has been asked to undertake. UNMIN does not have an enforcement mandate or a control role. UNMIN Arms Monitors focus on monitoring the weapons containers, and compliance with the Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies.
The normal Nepal Army and Maoist army chains of command, control, communication and information apply during the barracking and cantonment of their respective personnel. Maoist site commanders' responsibilities include camp security, access control, daily routines and control of troops.
The parties to the peace agreement set out UNMIN's monitoring role in the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies (AMMAA).
Terms of Peace Agreements
- UN Monitoring is defined as efforts by the United Nations to determine relative compliance with the AMMAA and to report to those concerned its findings.
- Any claims or reports of violations of the agreement will be reported to UN monitors, substantiated or not substantiated, and subsequently reported to the parties through the appropriate representative of UNMIN.
- The Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC), chaired by UNMIN with vice-chairmanship of both the Nepal Army and the Maoist army, supervises compliance by the parties with the AMMAA, resolves disputes between the parties and assists in confidence-building. The JMCC is to promote joint problem-solving, and build trust and confidence through active efforts to appropriately investigate and report on all incidents of concern to the parties. All problems and disputes should be resolved at the lowest level possible.
Concept of UNMIN's arms monitoring mandate
In requesting United Nations assistance in the monitoring of the management of arms and armed personnel, the parties did not want a large, uniformed and armed presence of United Nations troops. The concept has always been a light monitoring presence, and not an enforcement or control role. The arrangements for the cantonment of Maoist army personnel, confinement to barracks of the Nepal Army, and the monitoring of arms and armies were conceived as temporary measures to help create appropriate conditions for the Constituent Assembly election.
The basis for the light United Nations arms monitoring presence requested by the parties is a high degree of mutual confidence. It is imperative that arrangements for a managed transition to long-term solutions be discussed and agreed, and to this end that the Special Committee set up for the supervision, integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist army personnel resume and expedite its work.
Monitoring arrangements
As agreed between the parties, the Maoist army personnel are confined to seven main cantonments, stretching from Kailali to Ilam, and 21 smaller satellite sites. Some satellite sites are located at distances of three hours' travel time from the main sites. The Nepal Army is confined to barracks in the five regional divisions and in Kathmandu.
Maoist army weapons and a like number from the Nepal Army are registered with UNMIN and stored in weapon storage containers fitted with sirens, and are monitored 24/7 by surveillance cameras and arms monitors. An agreed number of weapons of the Maoist army are registered and permitted for the perimeter security of the 28 cantonment and satellite sites.
Neither side is permitted to recruit additional troops, transport arms, ammunitions and explosives or conduct military activities against the other. No more than 12 per cent of the total of retained force at a given cantonment or barracks may be on authorized leave at any time unless mutually agreed by the parties.
UNMIN maintains sirens and surveillance cameras at the weapon storage containers in the seven main cantonment sites and the Nepal Army weapon storage site in the Chhauni Barracks. UNMIN Arms Monitors maintain a permanent presence in the main cantonment sites and the Nepal Army weapon storage site in Chhauni Barracks. They monitor the management of the respective armies, facilitate dialogue and raise possible breaches of the AMMAA with the JMCC.
