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- 427. The Committee has examined this case on four previous occasions - in May
- 1986, May and November 1987 and most recently in May 1988, when it submitted
- interim reports to the Governing Body (see 244th Report, paras. 337 to 356,
- 251st Report, paras. 373 to 398, 253rd Report, paras. 302 to 327, and 256th
- Report, paras. 282 to 309, each approved by the Governing Body). Since then,
- the Government has sent a detailed reply, dated 20 June 1988, to the
- allegations submitted in this case and the complainant sent additional
- information in a letter of 9 September 1988.
- 428. Nepal has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
- Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) or the Right to Organise and
- Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98).
A. Previous examination of the case
A. Previous examination of the case- 429. The allegations in this case refer to (1) refusal, since 1980, by the
- authorities to register the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA); (2)
- refusal by the Minister of Education to enter into negotiations with the NNTA,
- whereas two new government-controlled teachers' unions had been set up; (3)
- repressive actions by the authorities, including the death of the following
- seven district officers of the NNTA at the hands of the police in 1985: Mr.
- Gandir Shrestha, shot to death on 19 May 1985; Mr. Tanka Bhushal (of the Argha
- Khanchi district), died after having been beaten by police at his home; Mr.
- Min Bar Chand (of the Baitadi district), beaten to death at a police station;
- Mr. Abikeshar Bharati (of the Jhapa district), found dead outside his village;
- Mr. Mahendra Tadav (of the Sirha district), shot at his home by bandits known
- to be in the employ of a local landlord; Mr. Suresh Shar Burja (of the Myagdi
- district), shot by persons employed for purposes of intimidation by a member
- of the legislature and Mr. Ram Dev Pandit (of the Dhanusa district), who fell
- ill in prison, was refused medical treatment, released in extremis and died
- before reaching hospital; detention for over two years of eight NNTA leaders;
- police interference in the NNTA second national conference and mass arrests of
- demonstrating teachers. The complainant organisation supplied a list of 61
- named teachers allegedly dismissed because of their trade union activities and
- a list of 35 named teachers allegedly transferred for such activities.
- 430. In its communication of 25 May 1987, the Government denied the
- allegations contained in the NNTA's complaint, stating that they were baseless
- and malicious and were intended to malign the Government. It admitted,
- however, that it had set up an ad hoc committee to draft a constitution to
- form a teachers' association for the promotion of teaching and academic work,
- career development and protection of the rights and interests of teachers,
- within the parameters of the Constitution and the law of the land, that this
- committee was chaired by a Member of Parliament and that it had drafted the
- constitutions of two associations, the Nepal National Primary Teachers'
- Association and the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association, which had
- been approved by the Government, and that central-level ad hoc committees had
- been constituted to set up the primary- and secondary-level teachers'
- associations as envisaged in the newly drafted constitutions. On the other
- hand, the Government denied that any teacher had been imprisoned on the
- grounds of his or her educational or academic pursuits.
- 431. In a subsequent communication dated 30 July 1987, the WCOTP alleged that
- the police hindered the activities of its Asian Regional Representative while
- he was in Kathmandu and prevented the holding of its affiliate's third
- national conference, scheduled for 25-27 June 1987, at which 185 NNTA
- delegates had been expected. In addition, the WCOTP cited a newspaper report
- of the Minister of Education's statement in Parliament to the effect that any
- organisation other than the newly formed Nepal National Primary Teachers'
- Association and the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association would be
- illegal under section 6 of the Act of the year 2018 BS of the Nepalese
- calendar, which prohibits the creation of associations parallel to already
- registered ones, quoting the same Minister as threatening "strong action"
- against those planning a conference on 25-27 June and indulging in activities
- banned by law.
- 432. The WCOTP also supplied a list of 72 teachers arrested in connection
- with the holding of the third national conference of the NNTA in June 1987 and
- stated that the first arrests of teachers in connection with this conference
- began as delegates from outlying areas were preparing to leave their homes a
- week before the conference. According to the WCOTP, teachers were seized,
- confined to cells where there was no room to lie down and refused food. The
- WCOTP stated further that on 25 June, an attempt by the police to enter the
- NNTA office was frustrated by a gathering of local people, that the premises
- on which the conference was to be held were surrounded by police but that the
- conference had finally taken place at an undisclosed location. The conference
- was alleged to have been peaceful and attended by Members of Parliament,
- representatives of parents, students, professional associations and the press,
- and to have elected a national executive committee.
- 433. In a more recent communication dated 16 December 1987, the WCOTP stated
- further that Mr. Sushill Chandra Amatya, a founder member of the NNTA, was
- still in prison four months after his arrest. It also supplied a list of nine
- named teachers who were leaders of the NNTA and were arrested in November
- 1987, and added that repression continued; that the salaries of teachers with
- NNTA connections were not paid; and that government officials were visiting
- every school, threatening and pressing teachers to join the two associations
- formed by the Government.
- 434. In a communication dated 29 January 1988, the Government reiterated its
- previous statements and affirmed that the constitutions of the two
- associations of primary and secondary teachers had been duly approved by the
- Government on 12 February 1987 in accordance with the National Guidance Act of
- the year 2018 BS of the Nepalese calendar, and that these constitutions had
- been adopted after discussions at a meeting of the teachers' representatives
- from all of the 14 zones of Nepal.
- 435. It admitted, however, that persons, who, it stated, no longer belonged
- to the teaching profession had opposed these two associations; these were Mr.
- Devi Prasad Ojha and Mr. Sita Ram Maskey and a handful of others, and that
- these persons had submitted the constitution of their Association in the year
- 2036 BS of the Nepalese calendar, but the constitution had not been approved
- by the Government because it made no provision for representation of
- primary-school teachers, and because these teachers were vehemently opposed to
- it and had made an application for a separate association of their own. The
- Government added that these persons had tried to sow the seeds of discontent
- in the teaching profession and that they had misled some of their colleagues,
- declaring themselves to be members of committees which they had secretly
- constituted.
- 436. Nevertheless, the constitutions independently prepared by the secondary-
- and primary-school teachers from all of the 14 zones of Nepal had been warmly
- welcomed by the entire community of teachers, and a large number of teachers
- who were once the supporters of the constitution of the teachers' association
- were now serving as members of the ad hoc committees formed pursuant to the
- approved constitutions of these two associations, stated the Government.
- 437. It concluded that these two associations had as one of their aims that
- of electing office-bearers, and that district-level committees had been
- constituted in nearly half of the districts through democratic means.
- Elections of trade union leaders at both levels had taken place among the
- teachers. The so-called NNTA leaders were, on the other hand, according to the
- Government, only self-declared leaders. Nine of them, including a general
- secretary, had in a joint declaration denounced the so-called NNTA for
- publishing their names as leaders of the NNTA without their prior knowledge,
- and had disassociated themselves from the "association". The Government
- confirmed, however, that it had not authorised the holding of a conference by
- the so-called NNTA in June 1987, as this association was illegal.
- 438. At its May 1988 Session, the Governing Body approved the following
- interim conclusions of the Committee:
- a) The Committee regrets that, despite the time which has elapsed since
- the allegations were made, the Government has supplied only general
- observations on this case and that it has not yet replied to several specific
- and extremely serious allegations.
- b) The Committee recalls that workers' organisations should have the right
- to draw up freely their own constitutions and rules without interference from
- the public authorities.
- c) The Committee urges the Government to supply detailed information on any
- judicial inquiry that might have been carried out into the alleged deaths of
- teacher trade unionists at the hands of the police in 1985, to state the
- charges brought against the eight named trade union leaders of the NNTA, to
- give explanations of the violent occupation of premises and confiscation of
- NNTA property in May 1985, and to state whether the teachers arrested in June
- and November 1987, as well as trade union leader Sushill Chandra Amatya have
- been released.
- B. The Government's reply
- 439. In a lengthy and detailed communication dated 20 June 1988, the
- Government supplies specific and precise information and observations on
- different aspects of the complaint lodged by the WCOTP in this case.
- 440. As regards the allegation concerning the refusal of the authorities,
- since 1980, to register the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA), the
- Government explains that the authorities had to refuse registration of the
- NNTA for the main reason that this association, from the beginning of its
- formation, engaged itself in politically motivated activities rather than in
- academic and professional activities for which it was created, that some of
- the leaders of the NNTA are established political activists and that because
- of its anti-Government stance, its policy of confrontation with the Government
- and its provocative activities, the NNTA was refused registration and
- recognition by the Government. Therefore, according to the National Guidance
- Act of 2018 BS of the Nepalese calendar, the so-called NNTA was declared
- illegal.
- 441. The Government states that it does not have a policy of favouritism or
- discrimination since, except for the NNTA, all other professional
- organisations, associations and unions in Nepal (such as the Engineers'
- Association, the Doctors' Association, the University Teachers' Association,
- the Students' Union, the trade unions, class organisations, labour
- organisations) have been registered indiscriminately under existing laws of
- the land and that they are allowed to function freely within the parameters of
- the Constitution, for the promotion and the defence of their occupational
- interests. The NNTA, continues the Government, is the only association that
- has been denied registration, because of its subversive activities and because
- it violated professional ethics by misleading the teachers' associations and
- by carrying out activities contrary to what it had been created for. Any
- government reserved the right to deny, suspend or dissolve any association if
- it carried out subversive activities.
- 442. As regards the allegation concerning the refusal by the Minister of
- Education to enter into negotiation with the NNTA, whereas two new
- government-controlled teachers' unions had been set up, the Government replies
- that it was not the Government which had been adamantly opposed to negotiating
- with the NNTA, but that it was the NNTA itself which had not been interested
- in bargaining. However, the Government states that on many occasions it had
- invited the NNTA for talks regarding issues concerning teachers. In 1982, when
- the teachers went on strike, the Government had taken the initiative to
- negotiate with the NNTA, with the result that the three-month-long strike had
- been called off. In 1984, the Government had taken another initiative. The
- NNTA was led by the then President, Mr. Janak Pyakurel, and the Government was
- represented by the Home Minister. Unfortunately, the negotiations failed.
- Following the failure of negotiations, the teachers loyal to the Government
- started organising themselves and formed an association under the name "Pragik
- Samgosthi" (Academic Association of Teachers) which had extended to 50 out of
- the 75 districts of Nepal. However, the Government was not happy with this
- development. What it really wanted was the creation of a strong, dynamic and
- independent teachers' association capable of safeguarding its due rights,
- promoting its occupational interests and making a substantial contribution to
- achieving the national goals in education.
- 443. Again, the Government admits having taken the initiative to constitute
- an ad hoc committee to draft constitutions for teachers. However, it explains
- that these constitutions were to be more democratic and broad-based, more
- realistic and acceptable for teachers. At the Government's request, the NNTA
- Central Executive Committee meeting was held on BS 2043.8.27 of the Napalese
- calendar (corresponding to 11 December 1986). This Committee decided to send
- five of its members to represent the NNTA to the constitution drafting
- committee. These were Mr. Bimal Koirala, acting president of the Central
- Committee of the NNTA; Mr. Kameswor Prasad Singh, vice-president; Mr. Kali
- Prasad Pokharel, acting vice-president; Mr. Ghana Shyam Poudel, secretary; and
- Mr. Mohan Narayan Shrestha, a member of the NNTA. There were also 12 other
- teachers representing private schools, female teachers from primary and
- secondary schools all over the country, two people's representatives from the
- National Legislature and two government officials (merely to facilitate and
- expedite the work entrusted to them, explains the Government). The proportion
- of teachers represented was thus 17 out of 21. Therefore, according to the
- Government, the new constitutions were drafted and adopted virtually by the
- teachers and for the teachers without making any provisions in the new
- constitutions for the Government to control the newly formed teachers'
- associations, the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association (NNSTA) and
- the Nepal National Primary Teachers' Association (NNPTA).
- 444. The members of the drafting committee, continues the Government, took
- into consideration the wish of primary-level teachers to form and join their
- own association since they had had one in 1973, to be free from the domination
- of secondary teachers in order to protect their own rights and to promote
- their interests. It was agreed to create two separate teachers' associations.
- Therefore the creation of two teachers' associations was neither artificial
- nor unprecedented. The Government's role was limited to calling the first
- meeting and encouraging the teachers to proceed further on their own. They
- were never interfered with or controlled either by the Government or by any
- other outside agency.
- 445. Under the new constitutions, the elections of the district-level
- executive committees and delegates to the national conference were conducted
- in 70 of the 75 districts in Nepal. In the remaining five districts, which
- are the remotest in Nepal, elections are to be held in July 1988. According to
- the ad hoc central committee, 85 to 90 per cent of teachers belong to the new
- associations. The rapid growth of both the secondary and primary teachers'
- associations is evidence of the teachers' faith in the new constitutions and
- their trust and confidence in the new union leadership. The first national
- conference under the new constitutions is planned to be held in October 1988
- and 550 delegates from all of the districts of Nepal are expected to attend.
- Some leaders and members of the NNTA have joined the new associations. They
- are Mr. Bimal Koirala, former acting president; Mr. Kameswor Prasad Singh,
- former vice-president; Mr. Ghana Shyam Poudel, former secretary, and four
- members of the central executive committee of the NNTA, Mr. Mohan Narayan
- Shrestha, Mr. Oba Bahadur Dange, Mr. Bisam Dutta Bhatta and Mr. Mrigendra
- Subedi, who, having joined the new teachers' associations, won the elections
- in their respective districts.
- 446. On the other hand, explains the Government, other members of the NNTA
- central executive committee, Mr. Sitaram Maskey, Mr. Kul Prasad Nepal, Mr.
- Gore Bahadur Khapangi, Mr. Parsu Ram Khapung and Mr. Chudamni Upadhyaya, no
- longer belong to the teaching profession. According to the Government, the
- facts cited explain that the allegations made against the Government are false
- and baseless.
- 447. As regards the allegation concerning the death of teacher unionists at
- the hands of the police in 1985, the Government replies that they are
- completely unknown to it. It notes that the WCOTP has given the names of the
- teachers allegedly dismissed, transferred or arrested, but has not given the
- names of the teachers killed. According to the Government, it is ridiculous
- that allegations of such magnitude and seriousness as the death of six
- unionists while in police custody are made without further specification,
- while incidents of much less importance are detailed and specified. The
- Government states further that any person with common sense can therefore see
- that the allegation is not only false and baseless but is also intended to
- malign the Government, which is not a dictatorship but a government of the
- people based on the principles of social justice and equity.
- 448. As regards the allegation concerning the detention for over two years of
- eight NNTA leaders, the Government states that it has not detained any teacher
- for over two years in connection with the teachers' movement or activities. If
- any teacher is being detained, it is not for his professional activities but
- for state offences. Thus, even Mr. Debi Ojha, former general secretary and one
- of the critics of the Government, was released last year following
- negotiations with the NNSTA and is moving freely to present his case, without
- any success up to now. Not a single person in the teaching profession is in
- detention now, affirms the Government.
- 449. As regards the allegation of police interference in the second national
- conference of the NNTA and mass arrests of demonstrating teachers, the
- Government states that any government would interfere to stop unauthorised and
- illegal meetings, conferences or demonstrations. According to the Government,
- any such arrests are only of a preventive nature. It recalls that the second
- national conference of the NNTA was being held without any previous
- authorisation, although the existing laws of the land require previous
- approval by the authorities for unregistered associations or organisations to
- hold meetings or conferences.
- 450. As regards the allegation of dismissals and transfers of teachers, the
- Government admits that it has dismissed teachers, but claims that this is not
- because of their trade union activities, but for other undesirable
- non-professional activities. It adds that it pays the salary of the teachers
- for teaching in the schools and that if any of them, instead of teaching in
- the schools, engage in other activities and use the school as a forum for the
- realisation of their personal interests or political ideology, the Government
- has, in such cases, no other option than to take necessary action against such
- teachers. However, according to the Government, the negligible number of
- teachers who had been dismissed or transferred and who, having realised their
- mistake, wished to rejoin their schools, have been reinstated.
- 451. As regards the allegation that the new teachers' associations are
- artificial because they were created by the Government, the latter denies that
- this is so and once again affirms that they are, on the contrary, most
- representative, since the overwhelming majority of teachers are members of
- them. It is the NNTA, according to the Government, which is artifical and
- cannot claim to be a teachers' association since the self-declared leaders,
- such as Mr. Debi Prasad Ojha and Mr. Sitaram Maskey, who are no longer in the
- teaching profession, are standing for the NNTA illegally, along with a handful
- of followers. The Government considers that they are fighting desperately in a
- losing war.
- 452. As regards the allegation concerning the arrest of 72 teachers who were
- detained in cells with no place to lie down and denied food, the Government
- considers that there can be no more false and baseless allegation than this.
- It states that not even the most heinous criminal in detention is denied food
- to eat and a place to lie down, not to mention teachers, who are the
- intellectuals of the country.
- 453. The Government concludes with observations on the conclusions and
- recommendations made by the Committee of the ILO on this case. In general, it
- regrets that the information supplied in its communication dated 25 May 1987
- was found inadequate. It also deplores the fact that the WCOTP, which is a
- reputed international organisation of the teaching profession, believed,
- without examining them, whatever complaints its affiliate, the NNTA,
- dispatched to it. The Government explains that it found the complaints so
- malicious and baseless that it did not deem it worth while to give its
- observations on them. However, the Government is sorry that its silence has
- jeopardised the decision of the Committee on Freedom of Association. It is
- also sorry to note that the Committee has been obliged to examine the case in
- the absence of specific and detailed information.
- 454. In particular, the Government gives its assurance that it never takes
- any action of reprisal against anybody. It affirms that it cannot be
- irresponsible. Therefore, no members of the NNTA need feel insecure. The
- Government maintains that it has not infringed the basic principle of freedom
- of association, that it has not created teachers' associations without their
- consent, and that teachers are free to choose their leaders, to follow any
- line of action and amend their constitutions according to their needs.
- 455. As everybody knows, explains the Government, in Nepal, two Members of
- Parliament, Mr. Sarad Singh Bhandari and Benu Prasad Prasai, who were in the
- constitution drafting committee, were great critics of the Government and
- strong advocates of teachers' rights at the time of drafting of the
- constitutions. What is important, according to the Government, is not who
- drafted the constitution but what is contained in it and how free the teachers
- are to defend their rights and promote their interests. A comparative study
- with previous texts would show that the new constitutions are broader-based,
- containing provisions for the representation of private schools and female
- teachers and that they have more democratic provisions for membership,
- election to office and for a greater representation in district and
- national-level assemblies. They are also more realistic and acceptable than
- the constitution adopted by the NNTA in the year 2036 BS of the Nepalese
- calendar.
- 456. Another example of freedom of movement and action of teachers under the
- new constitutions is that, as soon as the central ad hoc committee was formed
- in 1987, it presented eight demands to the Government. One of its demands was
- the immediate release of all teachers in detention and reinstatement of
- teachers transferred or dismissed. Abiding by the demand, the Government
- released all teachers, including Mr. Debi Ojha, and the teachers dismissed or
- transferred have been reinstated in the districts of Morang and Sunsari. Only
- Mr. Sushill Chandra Amatya and Mr. Sitaram Maskay (the latter was a candidate
- in the last general election but lost) are in detention, not for union
- activities but for offences against the State.
- 457. As regards the recommendation of the Committee on Freedom of Association
- to set up a judicial inquiry to investigate the alleged death of six district
- officers of the NNTA, the Government states that it cannot take up the case
- unless the so-called NNTA specifies when and where they were killed.
- 458. As regards the alleged police raid on the premises of the NNTA and
- confiscation of union papers on 17 May 1985, the Government explains that the
- police only dispersed the crowd that gathered there on that day, but did not
- break into the union's office and did not confiscate union papers.
- 459. Lastly, the Government states that it is willing to welcome an ILO
- representative to Nepal to see if ILO standards and principles on freedom of
- association are met.
- C. Additional information from the complainant
- 460. In a letter of September 1988, the WCOTP states that Sushill Chandra
- Amatya and Chabi Chandra Dhakal are still detained, Raj Prasai was arrested by
- the police and that several teachers have been dismissed and transferred.
D. The Committee's conclusions
D. The Committee's conclusions
- 461. The Committee notes all of the information, observations and denials of
- the Government in reply to the complainant's allegations of the refusal, since
- 1980, by the authorities to register the Nepal National Teachers' Association
- (NNTA) and to enter into negotiations with it, government interference in
- drafting the constitutions of the new associations and the artificial nature
- of these associations, police intervention in the second national conference
- of the NNTA and the violent death, arrests, detention, dismissal and transfers
- of trade union activists and leaders in the education sector. In the light of
- the information available, the Committee notes that the versions given by the
- complainant and the Government are contradictory.
- 462. As regards the Government's refusal to register the NNTA, the Committee
- notes that, according to the Government, this association is alleged to have
- adopted an anti-Government attitude from the outset and to have refused to
- enter into consultation with it on issues involving teachers in 1984. The
- Committee also notes that the Government admits that in 1982, after a
- three-month-long teachers' strike, the Government itself had taken the
- initiative of bargaining with the NNTA.
- 463. In the Committee's opinion, the fact that the Government had at first
- negotiated in 1982 with the NNTA, which had supported a three-month-long
- teachers' strike, and that it was later unable to enter into negotiations with
- the same association in 1984, did not entitle the Government to declare this
- association illegal and to support the setting up of two new associations
- which it considered more "realistic".
- 464. The Committee considers that, by placing one organisation at an
- advantage or disadvantage in relation to the others, a government influences
- the choice of workers regarding the organisation to which they intended to
- belong. It follows that acting in this fashion infringes the principle laid
- down in Convention No. 87, according to which the public authorities must
- refrain from any interference which would restrict the rights provided by this
- instrument or impede the lawful exercise thereof, and, more indirectly, the
- principle that the law of the land must not impair or be so applied as to
- impair the guarantees provided for in the Convention. (See, in particular,
- 197th Report, Case No. 913 (Sri Lanka), para. 323 and 211th Report, Cases Nos.
- 1035 and 1050 (India), para. 115.)
- 465. In the present case, the Committee considers that the authorities'
- refusal to recognise the NNTA on the pretext that the 1984 negotiations failed
- constitutes a violation of freedom of association and of free collective
- bargaining in that this refusal impairs the right of teachers wishing to
- belong to this association to join the trade union association of their choice
- for the defence of their economic, social and occupational interests and the
- right of the NNTA to promote and defend the occupational interests of its
- members.
- 466. As regards the dismissals and transfers of trade union activists and
- officers who maintained relations with the NNTA and took part in the strikes,
- the Committee notes that the Government acknowledges that it carried out
- dismissals, but explains that it pays teachers to teach and not to uphold
- their ideology in the schools.
- 467. First, the Committee has always considered that no one should suffer
- prejudice in his or her employment on the grounds of trade union membership
- and, more particularly, on the grounds of membership in the trade union of his
- or her choosing. In this case, the Committee considers that the anti-trade
- union dismissals and transfers affecting teachers who are members of the NNTA,
- who had participated in strike movements, constitute in themselves a violation
- of freedom of association.
- 468. Secondly, the Committee recalls that a strike is one of the essential
- means which workers, including those in education, should have in order to
- promote and defend their occupational interests.
- 469. While it welcomes the fact that some teachers have been reinstated in
- their posts, the Committee urges the Government to make every effort to obtain
- the reinstatement of all the teachers dismissed.
- 470. As regards the arrest and detention of trade union activists and
- officers, the Committee notes that the Government states that it has not
- detained any teacher within the last two years in connection with the
- teachers' movement or activities. It does, however, admit that teachers have
- been arrested, because they had committed offences against the State. It also
- affirms that, following the requests made by the Committee, it has released
- all of the teachers, including Mr. Debi Ojha, and that only Mr. Sushill
- Chandra Amatya and Mr. Sitaram Maskay are still being detained.
- 471. The Committee has, on several occasions, insisted on the importance
- which it attaches to the fact that, in every case, including those in which
- trade unionists are accused of political or criminal offences which the
- Government considers to be unrelated to their trade union activities, the
- persons in question be promptly tried by an impartial and independent judicial
- authority.
- 472. In this case, the Committee regrets that the Government has limited
- itself to stating in general terms that the officers of the NNTA are
- well-known political activists, with an anti-Government attitude, who have
- pursued a policy of confrontation and provocation with respect to the
- Government, and to adding that only two of them are still being detained, not
- for trade union activities but for offences against the State, without
- specifying the specific acts on which such charges are based.
- 473. The Committee considers that the fact of having led strike movements in
- the education sector cannot, in itself, constitute a state offence. The
- Committee therefore trusts that the persons concerned will be released in the
- near future.
- 474. As regards the death of seven trade unionists alleged by the
- complainant, the Committee notes the Government's statement that it is unable
- to conduct an inquiry into this aspect of the case unless the NNTA specifies
- where and when these persons are alleged to have been killed. The Committee
- recalls that the detailed allegations of the complainant are contained in
- paragraph 353 of the 244th Report and paragraph 381 of the 251st Report of the
- Committee, approved by the Governing Body at its May 1986 and May 1987
- Sessions. The Committee again requests the Government to supply its
- observations on this aspect of the case.
The Committee's recommendations
The Committee's recommendations
- 475. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites
- the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
- a) The Committee recalls the importance which it attaches to the principle
- that workers, including teachers, should be able to form trade unions of their
- own choosing, without previous authorisation, for the defence of their
- economic, social and occupational interests.
- b) The Committee also recalls the importance of strikes as an essential
- means which workers, including teachers, should have for the defence of their
- occupational interests.
- c) The Committee accordingly urges the Government to recognise the National
- Nepal Teachers' Association (NNTA) since the declaration of illegality
- concerning this association appears to be unfounded and it has been requesting
- registration since 1980.
- d) The Committee requests the Government to ensure that all of the teachers
- who supported the setting up of the NNTA and took part in strikes in the
- education sector since 1980 be reinstated in their posts and to communicate
- detailed information on the manner in which it has carried out these
- reinstatements.
- e) The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that all detained
- teachers are released or promptly tried by an independent judicial authority.
- It requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this
- connection.
- f) The Committee lastly urges the Government promptly to supply its
- observations on the detailed allegations of the complainant contained in the
- WCOTP's communications of 5 July 1985 and 3 April 1987 concerning the death of
- seven trade unionists in the education sector.