Sending a Message From Washington To Katmandu

The rebels have extended their power by raiding police stations, seizing guns and extorting money from business owners. In the meantime, the king has struggled to respond. He dissolved parliament in 2002 and has fired three prime ministers, moves that are not sanctioned by the Nepalese constitution.

Today, Nepalese villagers are often trapped between the gun muzzles of insurgents who demand food and lodging, and soldiers who come looking for the rebels. Before the soldiers leave, they often line up farmers and execute them for suspected complicity, according to Dinesh Prasain , a human rights activist from Nepal.

"The army justifies its human rights violations by saying, 'Look how brutal the Maoists are,' and they are," Prasain said. "But since 1996, 12,000 people have died. The state security forces have killed close to 7,800 Nepalese while the Maoist rebels have killed about 4,200, a ratio of two to one." The figures have been documented by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations and other organizations.

"We understand the role of the army is to fight the insurgency, but it also has to be accountable to the people of Nepal and respect human rights and international humanitarian terms and conditions," said Prasain, a sociologist.

Two million people have moved to neighboring countries as refugees, Prasain said. In February, he joined that list, fleeing to India with four members of his Collective Campaign for Peace, a coalition of 40 organizations. By his account, hundreds of activists continue to report on human rights violations through an underground network.

It remains risky work. Last Thursday, Gagan Thapa , a student leader, was snatched by police as soon he was released by court order. "They have this revolving-door system," said Prasain.

Now Prasain is in the United States, brought here by Nepalese Americans in an effort to raise awareness of the crisis in his country.

"I really would like to go back," he said, "but what good would I do in jail?"