Nepal: Killings and Mass Arrests of Trade Unionists

The ITUC strongly condemns the killing of two trade union members from Narayani Rolling Mills in the Bara District in Nepal, and the excessive violence subsequently used by the Nepal police against peaceful trade union protesters on Wednesday 3 September.

Brussels, 9 September 2008: The ITUC strongly condemns the killing of two trade union members in Nepal, and the excessive violence subsequently used by the Nepal police against peaceful trade union protesters on Wednesday 3 September.

Kebal Raut and Hare Ram Yadav were shot by the police police in an incident which occurred after workers from various factories in the Bara District had joined workers from the Narayani Rolling Mills factory in their action against the company management. This action had been launched by the Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Workers’ Union (NICIWU), an affiliate of the ITUC-affiliated General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), and was later on joined by workers from other unions, including the Nepal Trade Union Congress-Independent (NTUC-I), which is also an ITUC affiliate.

During a peaceful protest in Kathmandu, the police arrested 80 trade union leaders, including Santosh Rajyamajhi, general secretary of the United Telecom Ltd (UTL) workers’ trade union. The protest was in support of a union demand for an end to the system of temporary contracts for workers, for better working conditions and for the proper application of Nepal’s labour and trade union laws. Violence was used by the police during the arrest and many of the workers were injured, including wounded by bullets. The workers were detained at Mahendra police station and released in the evening.

In a letter sent to the authorities, the ITUC urges the government to ensure that Nepali police forces refrain from violence, that a fair compensation is provided to the family of deceased workers and to those injured and, finally, that the workers demands are met.

“Systematic repression against trade unionists must stop,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary. ”A newly established democracy like Nepal should not accept this violence, especially because Nepal is obliged to respect core labour standards, by virtue of its membership of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),” he added.


The ITUC represents 168 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018 or +32.477.580.486