The defense ministry sent a letter to the foreign ministry on Tuesday arguing that the DPKO should have consulted the government before taking a decision to send Basnet back from a UN peacekeeping mission. According to a source, the foreign ministry will now send a letter to the UN DPKO as per the Defense Ministry´s request.[break]
"As a major troop contributing country and a member of the UN, the DPKO should have talked to the Nepal government before repatriating Basnet from the Chad mission," a MoFA source quoted the MoD as saying in the letter.
DPKO expelled Basnet accusing him of serious human rights violations, including involvement in the murder of 15-year old Maina Sunar in February 2004.
Sources told Republica that MoD wrote the letter after the Nepal Army (NA) lodged a written concern over the decision of the DPKO.
During the meeting held at Defense Minister Bidhya Devi Bhandari´s official residence, which was also attended by the prime minister, army generals supported by Bhandari had opined that arrest of Basnet by the police would demoralize the NA ranks and file. Accordingly, military police detained Basnet upon his return from the Chad mission on Saturday.
"Basnet is still an incumbent officer. NA has its own rules and the military police detained him accordingly," Minister Bhandari told Republica on Monday.
The NA generals had argued before the prime minister that the government has forgiven serious human rights violations committed by the Maoists during the conflict time by withdrawing cases but the same was not the case with the NA. It may be recalled that the Maoist-led government had withdrawn around 350 cases against its cadres last year.
The meeting was called in a bid to convince the defense minister and the army that Basnet should be handed over to the police.
"But due to vehement protest from the defense minister and the army generals in the meeting, the prime minister did not issue any specific directive for Basnet´s arrest by the police," a source told Republica. An army source said that they fear that if Basnet is tried in a civilian court, it would set a precedent.
"If Basnet is presented before the court, other courts across the country will be flooded with cases against army personnel. If that happens, the army will be defunct," said an army official.
The NA has also argued, said another source, that action against its personnel should be taken only if the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommends so.
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