Interim Report - REPORT_NO259, November 1988

1. 427. The Committee has examined this case on four previous occasions - in May
2. 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,
3. 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.
4. 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

1. 429. The allegations in this case refer to (1) refusal, since 1980, by the
2. authorities to register the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA); (2)
3. refusal by the Minister of Education to enter into negotiations with the NNTA,
4. whereas two new government-controlled teachers' unions had been set up; (3)
5. repressive actions by the authorities, including the death of the following
6. seven district officers of the NNTA at the hands of the police in 1985: Mr.
7. Gandir Shrestha, shot to death on 19 May 1985; Mr. Tanka Bhushal (of the Argha
8. Khanchi district), died after having been beaten by police at his home; Mr.
9. Min Bar Chand (of the Baitadi district), beaten to death at a police station;
10. Mr. Abikeshar Bharati (of the Jhapa district), found dead outside his village;
11. Mr. Mahendra Tadav (of the Sirha district), shot at his home by bandits known
12. to be in the employ of a local landlord; Mr. Suresh Shar Burja (of the Myagdi
13. district), shot by persons employed for purposes of intimidation by a member
14. of the legislature and Mr. Ram Dev Pandit (of the Dhanusa district), who fell
15. ill in prison, was refused medical treatment, released in extremis and died
16. before reaching hospital; detention for over two years of eight NNTA leaders;
17. police interference in the NNTA second national conference and mass arrests of
18. demonstrating teachers. The complainant organisation supplied a list of 61
19. named teachers allegedly dismissed because of their trade union activities and
20. a list of 35 named teachers allegedly transferred for such activities.
21. 430. In its communication of 25 May 1987, the Government denied the
22. allegations contained in the NNTA's complaint, stating that they were baseless
23. and malicious and were intended to malign the Government. It admitted,
24. however, that it had set up an ad hoc committee to draft a constitution to
25. form a teachers' association for the promotion of teaching and academic work,
26. career development and protection of the rights and interests of teachers,
27. within the parameters of the Constitution and the law of the land, that this
28. committee was chaired by a Member of Parliament and that it had drafted the
29. constitutions of two associations, the Nepal National Primary Teachers'
30. Association and the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association, which had
31. been approved by the Government, and that central-level ad hoc committees had
32. been constituted to set up the primary- and secondary-level teachers'
33. associations as envisaged in the newly drafted constitutions. On the other
34. hand, the Government denied that any teacher had been imprisoned on the
35. grounds of his or her educational or academic pursuits.
36. 431. In a subsequent communication dated 30 July 1987, the WCOTP alleged that
37. the police hindered the activities of its Asian Regional Representative while
38. he was in Kathmandu and prevented the holding of its affiliate's third
39. national conference, scheduled for 25-27 June 1987, at which 185 NNTA
40. delegates had been expected. In addition, the WCOTP cited a newspaper report
41. of the Minister of Education's statement in Parliament to the effect that any
42. organisation other than the newly formed Nepal National Primary Teachers'
43. Association and the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association would be
44. illegal under section 6 of the Act of the year 2018 BS of the Nepalese
45. calendar, which prohibits the creation of associations parallel to already
46. registered ones, quoting the same Minister as threatening "strong action"
47. against those planning a conference on 25-27 June and indulging in activities
48. banned by law.
49. 432. The WCOTP also supplied a list of 72 teachers arrested in connection
50. with the holding of the third national conference of the NNTA in June 1987 and
51. stated that the first arrests of teachers in connection with this conference
52. began as delegates from outlying areas were preparing to leave their homes a
53. week before the conference. According to the WCOTP, teachers were seized,
54. confined to cells where there was no room to lie down and refused food. The
55. WCOTP stated further that on 25 June, an attempt by the police to enter the
56. NNTA office was frustrated by a gathering of local people, that the premises
57. on which the conference was to be held were surrounded by police but that the
58. conference had finally taken place at an undisclosed location. The conference
59. was alleged to have been peaceful and attended by Members of Parliament,
60. representatives of parents, students, professional associations and the press,
61. and to have elected a national executive committee.
62. 433. In a more recent communication dated 16 December 1987, the WCOTP stated
63. further that Mr. Sushill Chandra Amatya, a founder member of the NNTA, was
64. still in prison four months after his arrest. It also supplied a list of nine
65. named teachers who were leaders of the NNTA and were arrested in November
66. 1987, and added that repression continued; that the salaries of teachers with
67. NNTA connections were not paid; and that government officials were visiting
68. every school, threatening and pressing teachers to join the two associations
69. formed by the Government.
70. 434. In a communication dated 29 January 1988, the Government reiterated its
71. previous statements and affirmed that the constitutions of the two
72. associations of primary and secondary teachers had been duly approved by the
73. Government on 12 February 1987 in accordance with the National Guidance Act of
74. the year 2018 BS of the Nepalese calendar, and that these constitutions had
75. been adopted after discussions at a meeting of the teachers' representatives
76. from all of the 14 zones of Nepal.
77. 435. It admitted, however, that persons, who, it stated, no longer belonged
78. to the teaching profession had opposed these two associations; these were Mr.
79. Devi Prasad Ojha and Mr. Sita Ram Maskey and a handful of others, and that
80. these persons had submitted the constitution of their Association in the year
81. 2036 BS of the Nepalese calendar, but the constitution had not been approved
82. by the Government because it made no provision for representation of
83. primary-school teachers, and because these teachers were vehemently opposed to
84. it and had made an application for a separate association of their own. The
85. Government added that these persons had tried to sow the seeds of discontent
86. in the teaching profession and that they had misled some of their colleagues,
87. declaring themselves to be members of committees which they had secretly
88. constituted.
89. 436. Nevertheless, the constitutions independently prepared by the secondary-
90. and primary-school teachers from all of the 14 zones of Nepal had been warmly
91. welcomed by the entire community of teachers, and a large number of teachers
92. who were once the supporters of the constitution of the teachers' association
93. were now serving as members of the ad hoc committees formed pursuant to the
94. approved constitutions of these two associations, stated the Government.
95. 437. It concluded that these two associations had as one of their aims that
96. of electing office-bearers, and that district-level committees had been
97. constituted in nearly half of the districts through democratic means.
98. Elections of trade union leaders at both levels had taken place among the
99. teachers. The so-called NNTA leaders were, on the other hand, according to the
100. Government, only self-declared leaders. Nine of them, including a general
101. secretary, had in a joint declaration denounced the so-called NNTA for
102. publishing their names as leaders of the NNTA without their prior knowledge,
103. and had disassociated themselves from the "association". The Government
104. confirmed, however, that it had not authorised the holding of a conference by
105. the so-called NNTA in June 1987, as this association was illegal.
106. 438. At its May 1988 Session, the Governing Body approved the following
107. interim conclusions of the Committee:
108. a) The Committee regrets that, despite the time which has elapsed since
109. the allegations were made, the Government has supplied only general
110. observations on this case and that it has not yet replied to several specific
111. and extremely serious allegations.
112. b) The Committee recalls that workers' organisations should have the right
113. to draw up freely their own constitutions and rules without interference from
114. the public authorities.
115. c) The Committee urges the Government to supply detailed information on any
116. judicial inquiry that might have been carried out into the alleged deaths of
117. teacher trade unionists at the hands of the police in 1985, to state the
118. charges brought against the eight named trade union leaders of the NNTA, to
119. give explanations of the violent occupation of premises and confiscation of
120. NNTA property in May 1985, and to state whether the teachers arrested in June
121. and November 1987, as well as trade union leader Sushill Chandra Amatya have
122. been released.
123. B. The Government's reply
124. 439. In a lengthy and detailed communication dated 20 June 1988, the
125. Government supplies specific and precise information and observations on
126. different aspects of the complaint lodged by the WCOTP in this case.
127. 440. As regards the allegation concerning the refusal of the authorities,
128. since 1980, to register the Nepal National Teachers' Association (NNTA), the
129. Government explains that the authorities had to refuse registration of the
130. NNTA for the main reason that this association, from the beginning of its
131. formation, engaged itself in politically motivated activities rather than in
132. academic and professional activities for which it was created, that some of
133. the leaders of the NNTA are established political activists and that because
134. of its anti-Government stance, its policy of confrontation with the Government
135. and its provocative activities, the NNTA was refused registration and
136. recognition by the Government. Therefore, according to the National Guidance
137. Act of 2018 BS of the Nepalese calendar, the so-called NNTA was declared
138. illegal.
139. 441. The Government states that it does not have a policy of favouritism or
140. discrimination since, except for the NNTA, all other professional
141. organisations, associations and unions in Nepal (such as the Engineers'
142. Association, the Doctors' Association, the University Teachers' Association,
143. the Students' Union, the trade unions, class organisations, labour
144. organisations) have been registered indiscriminately under existing laws of
145. the land and that they are allowed to function freely within the parameters of
146. the Constitution, for the promotion and the defence of their occupational
147. interests. The NNTA, continues the Government, is the only association that
148. has been denied registration, because of its subversive activities and because
149. it violated professional ethics by misleading the teachers' associations and
150. by carrying out activities contrary to what it had been created for. Any
151. government reserved the right to deny, suspend or dissolve any association if
152. it carried out subversive activities.
153. 442. As regards the allegation concerning the refusal by the Minister of
154. Education to enter into negotiation with the NNTA, whereas two new
155. government-controlled teachers' unions had been set up, the Government replies
156. that it was not the Government which had been adamantly opposed to negotiating
157. with the NNTA, but that it was the NNTA itself which had not been interested
158. in bargaining. However, the Government states that on many occasions it had
159. invited the NNTA for talks regarding issues concerning teachers. In 1982, when
160. the teachers went on strike, the Government had taken the initiative to
161. negotiate with the NNTA, with the result that the three-month-long strike had
162. been called off. In 1984, the Government had taken another initiative. The
163. NNTA was led by the then President, Mr. Janak Pyakurel, and the Government was
164. represented by the Home Minister. Unfortunately, the negotiations failed.
165. Following the failure of negotiations, the teachers loyal to the Government
166. started organising themselves and formed an association under the name "Pragik
167. Samgosthi" (Academic Association of Teachers) which had extended to 50 out of
168. the 75 districts of Nepal. However, the Government was not happy with this
169. development. What it really wanted was the creation of a strong, dynamic and
170. independent teachers' association capable of safeguarding its due rights,
171. promoting its occupational interests and making a substantial contribution to
172. achieving the national goals in education.
173. 443. Again, the Government admits having taken the initiative to constitute
174. an ad hoc committee to draft constitutions for teachers. However, it explains
175. that these constitutions were to be more democratic and broad-based, more
176. realistic and acceptable for teachers. At the Government's request, the NNTA
177. Central Executive Committee meeting was held on BS 2043.8.27 of the Napalese
178. calendar (corresponding to 11 December 1986). This Committee decided to send
179. five of its members to represent the NNTA to the constitution drafting
180. committee. These were Mr. Bimal Koirala, acting president of the Central
181. Committee of the NNTA; Mr. Kameswor Prasad Singh, vice-president; Mr. Kali
182. Prasad Pokharel, acting vice-president; Mr. Ghana Shyam Poudel, secretary; and
183. Mr. Mohan Narayan Shrestha, a member of the NNTA. There were also 12 other
184. teachers representing private schools, female teachers from primary and
185. secondary schools all over the country, two people's representatives from the
186. National Legislature and two government officials (merely to facilitate and
187. expedite the work entrusted to them, explains the Government). The proportion
188. of teachers represented was thus 17 out of 21. Therefore, according to the
189. Government, the new constitutions were drafted and adopted virtually by the
190. teachers and for the teachers without making any provisions in the new
191. constitutions for the Government to control the newly formed teachers'
192. associations, the Nepal National Secondary Teachers' Association (NNSTA) and
193. the Nepal National Primary Teachers' Association (NNPTA).
194. 444. The members of the drafting committee, continues the Government, took
195. into consideration the wish of primary-level teachers to form and join their
196. own association since they had had one in 1973, to be free from the domination
197. of secondary teachers in order to protect their own rights and to promote
198. their interests. It was agreed to create two separate teachers' associations.
199. Therefore the creation of two teachers' associations was neither artificial
200. nor unprecedented. The Government's role was limited to calling the first
201. meeting and encouraging the teachers to proceed further on their own. They
202. were never interfered with or controlled either by the Government or by any
203. other outside agency.
204. 445. Under the new constitutions, the elections of the district-level
205. executive committees and delegates to the national conference were conducted
206. in 70 of the 75 districts in Nepal. In the remaining five districts, which
207. are the remotest in Nepal, elections are to be held in July 1988. According to
208. the ad hoc central committee, 85 to 90 per cent of teachers belong to the new
209. associations. The rapid growth of both the secondary and primary teachers'
210. associations is evidence of the teachers' faith in the new constitutions and
211. their trust and confidence in the new union leadership. The first national
212. conference under the new constitutions is planned to be held in October 1988
213. and 550 delegates from all of the districts of Nepal are expected to attend.
214. Some leaders and members of the NNTA have joined the new associations. They
215. are Mr. Bimal Koirala, former acting president; Mr. Kameswor Prasad Singh,
216. former vice-president; Mr. Ghana Shyam Poudel, former secretary, and four
217. members of the central executive committee of the NNTA, Mr. Mohan Narayan
218. Shrestha, Mr. Oba Bahadur Dange, Mr. Bisam Dutta Bhatta and Mr. Mrigendra
219. Subedi, who, having joined the new teachers' associations, won the elections
220. in their respective districts.
221. 446. On the other hand, explains the Government, other members of the NNTA
222. central executive committee, Mr. Sitaram Maskey, Mr. Kul Prasad Nepal, Mr.
223. Gore Bahadur Khapangi, Mr. Parsu Ram Khapung and Mr. Chudamni Upadhyaya, no
224. longer belong to the teaching profession. According to the Government, the
225. facts cited explain that the allegations made against the Government are false
226. and baseless.
227. 447. As regards the allegation concerning the death of teacher unionists at
228. the hands of the police in 1985, the Government replies that they are
229. completely unknown to it. It notes that the WCOTP has given the names of the
230. teachers allegedly dismissed, transferred or arrested, but has not given the
231. names of the teachers killed. According to the Government, it is ridiculous
232. that allegations of such magnitude and seriousness as the death of six
233. unionists while in police custody are made without further specification,
234. while incidents of much less importance are detailed and specified. The
235. Government states further that any person with common sense can therefore see
236. that the allegation is not only false and baseless but is also intended to
237. malign the Government, which is not a dictatorship but a government of the
238. people based on the principles of social justice and equity.
239. 448. As regards the allegation concerning the detention for over two years of
240. eight NNTA leaders, the Government states that it has not detained any teacher
241. for over two years in connection with the teachers' movement or activities. If
242. any teacher is being detained, it is not for his professional activities but
243. for state offences. Thus, even Mr. Debi Ojha, former general secretary and one
244. of the critics of the Government, was released last year following
245. negotiations with the NNSTA and is moving freely to present his case, without
246. any success up to now. Not a single person in the teaching profession is in
247. detention now, affirms the Government.
248. 449. As regards the allegation of police interference in the second national
249. conference of the NNTA and mass arrests of demonstrating teachers, the
250. Government states that any government would interfere to stop unauthorised and
251. illegal meetings, conferences or demonstrations. According to the Government,
252. any such arrests are only of a preventive nature. It recalls that the second
253. national conference of the NNTA was being held without any previous
254. authorisation, although the existing laws of the land require previous
255. approval by the authorities for unregistered associations or organisations to
256. hold meetings or conferences.
257. 450. As regards the allegation of dismissals and transfers of teachers, the
258. Government admits that it has dismissed teachers, but claims that this is not
259. because of their trade union activities, but for other undesirable
260. non-professional activities. It adds that it pays the salary of the teachers
261. for teaching in the schools and that if any of them, instead of teaching in
262. the schools, engage in other activities and use the school as a forum for the
263. realisation of their personal interests or political ideology, the Government
264. has, in such cases, no other option than to take necessary action against such
265. teachers. However, according to the Government, the negligible number of
266. teachers who had been dismissed or transferred and who, having realised their
267. mistake, wished to rejoin their schools, have been reinstated.
268. 451. As regards the allegation that the new teachers' associations are
269. artificial because they were created by the Government, the latter denies that
270. this is so and once again affirms that they are, on the contrary, most
271. representative, since the overwhelming majority of teachers are members of
272. them. It is the NNTA, according to the Government, which is artifical and
273. cannot claim to be a teachers' association since the self-declared leaders,
274. such as Mr. Debi Prasad Ojha and Mr. Sitaram Maskey, who are no longer in the
275. teaching profession, are standing for the NNTA illegally, along with a handful
276. of followers. The Government considers that they are fighting desperately in a
277. losing war.
278. 452. As regards the allegation concerning the arrest of 72 teachers who were
279. detained in cells with no place to lie down and denied food, the Government
280. considers that there can be no more false and baseless allegation than this.
281. It states that not even the most heinous criminal in detention is denied food
282. to eat and a place to lie down, not to mention teachers, who are the
283. intellectuals of the country.
284. 453. The Government concludes with observations on the conclusions and
285. recommendations made by the Committee of the ILO on this case. In general, it
286. regrets that the information supplied in its communication dated 25 May 1987
287. was found inadequate. It also deplores the fact that the WCOTP, which is a
288. reputed international organisation of the teaching profession, believed,
289. without examining them, whatever complaints its affiliate, the NNTA,
290. dispatched to it. The Government explains that it found the complaints so
291. malicious and baseless that it did not deem it worth while to give its
292. observations on them. However, the Government is sorry that its silence has
293. jeopardised the decision of the Committee on Freedom of Association. It is
294. also sorry to note that the Committee has been obliged to examine the case in
295. the absence of specific and detailed information.
296. 454. In particular, the Government gives its assurance that it never takes
297. any action of reprisal against anybody. It affirms that it cannot be
298. irresponsible. Therefore, no members of the NNTA need feel insecure. The
299. Government maintains that it has not infringed the basic principle of freedom
300. of association, that it has not created teachers' associations without their
301. consent, and that teachers are free to choose their leaders, to follow any
302. line of action and amend their constitutions according to their needs.
303. 455. As everybody knows, explains the Government, in Nepal, two Members of
304. Parliament, Mr. Sarad Singh Bhandari and Benu Prasad Prasai, who were in the
305. constitution drafting committee, were great critics of the Government and
306. strong advocates of teachers' rights at the time of drafting of the
307. constitutions. What is important, according to the Government, is not who
308. drafted the constitution but what is contained in it and how free the teachers
309. are to defend their rights and promote their interests. A comparative study
310. with previous texts would show that the new constitutions are broader-based,
311. containing provisions for the representation of private schools and female
312. teachers and that they have more democratic provisions for membership,
313. election to office and for a greater representation in district and
314. national-level assemblies. They are also more realistic and acceptable than
315. the constitution adopted by the NNTA in the year 2036 BS of the Nepalese
316. calendar.
317. 456. Another example of freedom of movement and action of teachers under the
318. new constitutions is that, as soon as the central ad hoc committee was formed
319. in 1987, it presented eight demands to the Government. One of its demands was
320. the immediate release of all teachers in detention and reinstatement of
321. teachers transferred or dismissed. Abiding by the demand, the Government
322. released all teachers, including Mr. Debi Ojha, and the teachers dismissed or
323. transferred have been reinstated in the districts of Morang and Sunsari. Only
324. Mr. Sushill Chandra Amatya and Mr. Sitaram Maskay (the latter was a candidate
325. in the last general election but lost) are in detention, not for union
326. activities but for offences against the State.
327. 457. As regards the recommendation of the Committee on Freedom of Association
328. to set up a judicial inquiry to investigate the alleged death of six district
329. officers of the NNTA, the Government states that it cannot take up the case
330. unless the so-called NNTA specifies when and where they were killed.
331. 458. As regards the alleged police raid on the premises of the NNTA and
332. confiscation of union papers on 17 May 1985, the Government explains that the
333. police only dispersed the crowd that gathered there on that day, but did not
334. break into the union's office and did not confiscate union papers.
335. 459. Lastly, the Government states that it is willing to welcome an ILO
336. representative to Nepal to see if ILO standards and principles on freedom of
337. association are met.
338. C. Additional information from the complainant
339. 460. In a letter of September 1988, the WCOTP states that Sushill Chandra
340. Amatya and Chabi Chandra Dhakal are still detained, Raj Prasai was arrested by
341. the police and that several teachers have been dismissed and transferred.

D. The Committee's conclusions

1. 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
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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".
5. 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,
6. 197th Report, Case No. 913 (Sri Lanka), para. 323 and 211th Report, Cases Nos.
7. 1035 and 1050 (India), para. 115.)
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.