A peace agreement was signed in Nepal on 21 November 2006, effectively ending a 10 year insurgency which has reportedly killed 13,000 people. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the chairman of the Maoist communist party, Prachanda, signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement following a six-month cease-fire. The ceasefire was started by coordinated protests that took place over 19 days, ending the direct rule of the King and restoring Parliament. The King had imposed direct rule in February 2005. The Agreement marks the end of a 238-year-old feudal system.

Government-sponsored vigilantes, also known as village defense forces, freely gave up their arms the day after the Agreement was signed, in the southern town of Nawalparasi. Seven rifles, one pistol, and other crude weapons were destroyed in a flame of peace. The National Human Rights Commission has reported that villagers have expressed interest in dissolving village defense forces and handing over their weapons.

The Arms Accord, signed on 28 November 2006, calls on the United Nations Mission to monitor and inspect the safe storage of Maoists army weapons and ammunition, oversees information exchange on finding, diffusing and removing landmines and other booby traps, and ensures combatant registration. A reported 30-50% of Maoists insugents are women combatants.

The Accord emphasises that “The key principle that shall underpin permitted activities for both sides shall be to alleviate the effects of the armed conflict on civilians and the war-affected areas and to galvanise popular support for peace.”

The Arms Accord text can be found here.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement Text can be found here.