Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch, NO fan of Maoists in Nepal, came down harder than usual against the King, issuing a press release titled "Nepal: Time for King to Relinquish Power: Wave of Repression in Year Since Coup," <http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/01/nepal12588.htm>. The HRW press release stated: "Since the king's coup on February 1, 2005, government military and security agencies have summarily suspended or ignored civil and political rights, and continued to engage in the practice of 'disappearances,' marking Nepal as the country with the highest number of cases reported to the United Nations. Security forces arbitrarily arrested over 3,000 political activists, journalists, and students. Conflict-related civilian casualties continued at the same pace as before the coup, with the exception of a four-month ceasefire unilaterally declared by the Maoists that ended on January 2. Security forces killed more than 1,000 people over the last year, including civilians, while Maoists were responsible for at least 600 deaths. . . . Reporters Without Borders reported at least 273 cases of arrests of journalists and 569 cases of censorship in 2005 occurred in Nepal -- half of the total cases of censorship reported worldwide" (at <http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/01/nepal12588.htm>). While Nepalese Maoists are no Gandhian non-violent activists -- after all, they are guerrillas! -- it seems clear to me which side is responsible for more deaths.
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>