In separate letters sent to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and the Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday, UNMIN has requested clarification on several monitoring-related issues such as the status of the Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies (AMMAA), the Joint Monitoring Coordination Committee (JMCC), the parties´ planned supervisory arrangements and the disposition of the UN´s monitoring-related equipments. [break]
The UN body has recommended the parties to concentrate on reaching rapid agreement on the integration and rehabilitation of the cantoned combatants rather than establish a brand new monitoring regime. “However, as long as there is little progress in this regard, follow-on supervisory arrangements will need to be considered,” said a press note made available by the UNMIN.
UNMIN emphasized that it is in the interest of all parties to have a common understanding on follow-on arrangements that will be in place after the UNMIN´s departure.
“We encourage the parties to expedite an agreement on all aspects of monitoring and supervision, how cantonments will be supervised including a clear legal framework and a formal dispute resolution mechanism that will be applied following the withdrawal of the UNMIN,” Landgren wrote in the letter.
Regarding the proposal to hand over UNMIN´s high-tech monitoring equipment following the mission´s departure, Landgren stated that the UN has a detailed procedure on the handover of assets with the first priority being their transfer to other missions.
“As an interim measure, the Special Committee, as the appropriate constitutional body, may wish to formally request the loan of the monitoring related equipment, giving a clear indication of how it will be used and by whom,” Landgren further stated in the letter.
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