The accessible and accountable provision of security and justice is a key requirement for ensuring sustainable peace and economic and social development. In Nepal, there is an urgent need to address issues related to security provision and the security sector as part of the ongoing peace process. Success in security sector reform (SSR) is vital in ensuring the improvements to governance, without which further violent conflict in Nepal is likely.
SSR and public security initiatives planned in tandem are key to improving the security situation. However, given the sensitivities that SSR terminology evokes, thought needs to be given to what can be done in the short term under the banner of public security to lay the groundwork for SSR. If something is not done to address the current public security situation, then any longer-term SSR initiatives will be jeopardised.
The EU is among a number of actors engaged in Nepal that have committed to addressing security-related issues. With a wide range of instruments at its disposal, it is in a position to play a significant role in developing and sustaining a human-security driven approach that ensures public security, and peoples’ needs, are addressed in the broader context of long-term SSR.
The Current Security Situation in Nepal
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in November 2006 and the relatively peaceful Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in April 2008 marked the end of a conflict in Nepal that lasted for over a decade. However, the peace process remains fragile and levels of insecurity are high, particularly in the eastern Terai. The lack of progress made in drafting the Constitution has fuelled tensions and driven a sense of disenfranchisement, as well as the desire by some to gain a “piece” of the political pie. The ongoing levels of insecurity also reflect entrenched grievances, often manifested in gender, ethnic and caste divisions, which the peace process has been unable to address.
The Existing Security Sector
Security actors in Nepal include both state providers and traditional and community-level organisations. The latter have a long history of service provision at the local level, a role that was strengthened during the conflict years. Any SSR process needs to ensure that the roles played by a wide range of groups, and how they interact, are understood and taken into account if any change is to be effective and gain popular support.
Security service providers whose roles will need to be assessed and reviewed include: the Nepal Army (90,000 personnel), the Armed Police Force (40,000 personnel), the Nepal Police (56,000 personnel) and political youth wings, including the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist (CPN-M) Youth Communist League (YCL) (around half a million members), the United Marxist Leninist Party (UML) Youth Force (YF) (numbers uncertain) and the Nepali Congress (NC) Tarun Dal (numbers uncertain).
SSR and Public Security in Nepal
Improving the public security situation in Nepal is inherently linked to SSR. A successful SSR process will facilitate the democratic and accountable provision of security, which in turn will enable the government to ensure public security. However, discussions about SSR are in their infancy and progress is hampered by political manoeuvring and disagreements over People's Liberation Army (PLA) integration into the Nepal Army. Little consideration has been given to how an SSR process will be designed to take into account local-level realities and wider public security needs.
In the meantime public security appears to be deteriorating and the perceived lack of attention to this is having a negative effect on public faith in the government and the peace process. The Nepal Police are, officially, on the front line of security service provision but lack the necessary capacity and resources and do not have the full trust of the population. Community mechanisms, which are seen to be more effective and accessible, remain the first recourse for the majority of the population.
Public security is also threatened by a significant minority of disillusioned, frustrated, angry youth who feel, and in many cases are, excluded from the political process and do not see the potential for making a legitimate way of living.
International Engagement on Public Security and SSR –The EU and Beyond
There is a need for a common understanding to be agreed upon between bilateral and multilateral actors to provide a framework for the European Commission (EC), EU Member States and other actors to tackle both public security and SSR in a coordinated manner. Until political agreement is reached at the national level, donor support for SSR will remain limited, with the majority of bilateral funding currently pledged through the Nepal Peace Trust Fund (NPTF). Additional activities include:
- An informal donor working group on SSR (Denmark, Finland and the UK as well as Norway and Switzerland): Coordination mechanism but little progress to date;
- UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN): Limited coordination of donor/international partner meetings on integration and SSR, development of a matrix of donor support to integration;
- The UK: Limited support to improving civilian control of the security services, indication of support for a public security programme, focusing on community policing and alternative prison sentencing, once the political situation has stabilised; and
- The EC: 30 percent of the €120 million budget under the 2007-2013 under the Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 allocated to Stability and Peacebuilding, €5 million allocated to the NPTF under the StabilityInstrument, potential for an additional contribution of €22 million pending an EC assessment.
Conclusions and Recommendations
It is widely acknowledged that any progress on a broad SSR process is likely to be stalled until the composition of the Army Integration Special Committee (AISC) is agreed on and the issue of integration is resolved. In the meantime, the deteriorating security situation necessitates that addressing public security issues is an immediate priority if the current fragile peace is to be maintained. It is also a necessary step in paving the way for longer-term SSR initiatives.
This briefing recommends that the EC, Member States and the wider donor community should:
- Support the development of a realistic system for local-level consultation on security issues;
- Build the will and capacity of stakeholders to engage in consultation processes;
- Develop increased understanding of existing local dispute resolution mechanisms and community organisations in order to establish how they could be supported and/or support the work of Local Peace Councils;
- Support information sharing between Kathmandu and districts, and vice versa, through media and communications channels;
- Establish a public security forum, to develop a common understanding of public security and SSR issues and approaches;
- Ensure consideration is given to how aid and development funds can impact on security at the local level;
- Support the development of capacity within the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) to effectively coordinate and implement NPTF priorities;
- Ensure support to the NPTF is balanced with support to initiatives that address wider public security challenges; and
- When assessing public security priorities establish how to link this to, or establish, approaches that ensure that youth play a positive role in the ongoing political discussions.
