Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions demands end to crackdown on independent unionists in Nepal :: Charter'97 :: News

The Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU) has chided Nepal’s royal government for cracking down on all civil liberties, expressing solidarity with the Himalayan kingdom’s trade union activists.

Nepalese King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency this past February, soon after declaring absolute power and firing the government. Under the provisions, most civil liberties have been suspended, including freedom of press, speech and the right of assembly.

“We are familiar with the Nepalese government’s actions like no one else in Belarus,” BCDTU Chairman Aleksandr Yaroshuk says in a letter sent to Nepal’s embassy in Moscow. “Both me and my fellow unionists also have been arrested by the Belarusian authorities which have continued the policy of rejecting the country’s independent and democratic trade union movement,” the BCDTU press office quotes Mr. Yaroshuk as saying.

The Belarusian labor union has urged Nepal’s government to restore freedom of association and expression as “the first step toward bringing Nepal back to the path of democracy.”

The BCDTU demands that the Nepalese authorities take prompt steps to protect local unionists and restore their basic rights.

The petition is part of the worldwide campaign held by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, of which the BCDTU is a member, to support independent labor unions in Nepal.