Contents: I. Summary: 1. Note on methodology. II. Background: 1. The Maoist insurgency. 2. Political paralysis in Nepal. 3. The international community. III. International legal obligations: 1. Nepal as an internal armed conflict. 2. Protections of International Humanitarian Law. 3. Protections of human rights law. 4. Limits on the use of force. IV. Unlawful killings and summary executions by Nepali security forces. V. Summary executions of civilians by Maoist forces. VI. Recruitment and use of children by Maoists. VII. Arbitrary arrests and "disappearances". VIII. The role of the international community: 1. Contrasting approaches by the United States and the European Union. 2. The international community, arms supplies and human rights abuses. IX. Recommendations: 1. To the government of Nepal. 2. To the leadership of CPN-Maoist. 3. To the king. 4. To states providing military assistance to the Nepali Government. 5. To outside states, such as the U.S., U.K., the E.U. Switzerland, and India and international agencies, such as the U.N., and donors.