At a time when Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias ‘Prachanda’ last week was flying to the US for the treatment of his spouse, Sita, speculations were rife in Nepal that Prachanda, who led the decade-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal, could face legal hurdles over alleged human rights violation in the US.
The party — once labeled as a ‘terrorist’ outfit by the US government – was delisted from the list of the global terrorist group in 2012.
The US government “makes its terrorist listings based on facts and unless the group is actively engaged in terrorism that is a threat to US interests, it won’t be re-added to the terrorism list”.
Khabarhub talked exclusively to Jason M. Blazakis, former Director of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, at the U.S. Department of State, to know whether there would be any change on the US position if Dahal assumed the Prime Ministerial post here. Jason ruled out any change on the US policy now. “This is very unlikely to occur in my view,” he said.
According to him, the US government “makes its terrorist listings based on facts and unless the group is actively engaged in terrorism that is a threat to US interests, it won’t be re-added to the terrorism list”.
Jason was the Director of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, at the U.S. Department of State when the US government removed the Maoist party from the list of the global terrorist group.
In his former role, he was responsible for directing efforts to designate countries, organizations, and individuals as terrorists, also known as State Sponsors of Terrorism, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Jason, who is also a terrorism expert, and devises strategies to prevent terrorists from gaining access to money and publicity, said the State Department “removed CPN-Maoists from its listing as a terrorist group pursuant to Executive Order 13224 because the party had begun the process of political reform”.
Currently, Professor of Practice at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USA, Jason stated that at the time of delisting, there were “no recent acts of violence that could be directly attributed to the group”.
Regarding Dahal’s visit to the US, Professor Jason, who is also the President of Riptide Threat Mitigation Group, Inc., a geopolitical risk consultancy, said he “did not have any concerns if the trip was made in accordance with U.S. law”.
“The decision to delist the group should be not be viewed as US acceptance for the group’s terrorist past and violence misdeeds,” he told Khabarhub adding that the delisting was about encouraging the group to become part of a legitimate political process.
Regarding Dahal’s visit to the US, Professor Jason, who is also the President of Riptide Threat Mitigation Group, Inc., a geopolitical risk consultancy, said he “did not have any concerns if the trip was made in accordance with U.S. law”.
“The Maoists are no longer labeled as a terrorist group,” said Jason, who previously held positions in the Department of State’s Political-Military Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Intelligence and Research Bureaus, and at U.S. Embassy Kabul.
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