[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:25 PM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] Nepal: new crackdown protested Associated Press. 20 June 2001. Hundreds Protest Nepal Detention Law. KATHMANDU -- More than 200 people demonstrated on Wednesday against a new law that allows Nepalese authorities to detain people and ban organizations in an effort to contain the threat posed by Maoist guerrillas. "This is dictatorship," shouted the protesters from the Democratic Youth Forum. They marched through the streets of Katmandu, the capital, to the central secretariat that houses government offices. Police stopped them at the gate, but no scuffles were reported. [N.B.] The new law, announced on Tuesday, empowers the administrative heads of Nepal's 75 districts to put under house arrest or limit the movements to a certain area of suspects in the name of national security. The new law is aimed at the Maoists guerrillas who launched a violent campaign against the monarchy and the feudal structure in 1995. However, the opposition and human rights organizations have accused the government of trying to stifle democracy. "The new regulations are against democratic norms and will certainly limit people's rights and freedoms," said Prakash Chandra Lohani of the National Democratic Party. "The intentions and timing of enforcing such a law do not look right," said Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the United Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Nepal. The government earlier this month arrested the editor and two publishers of the leading Kantipur Daily newspaper on charges of treason for publishing an article by a Maoist rebel leader urging the army to stop protecting the royal house as protests erupted after a palace massacre on June 1. The three were freed on bail last week. The opposition parties have been pressing for Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's resignation through protests in Parliament and street demonstrations. They accuse Koirala of involvement in a bribery scandal. * * * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
