FIJI Trades Union Congress national secretary Felix Anthony told the Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission he faced repeated arrests, intimidation, and abuse while defending democracy and workers’ rights during the nation’s turbulent political history.
Speaking before Commissioners Joaquim da Fonseca and Ana Laqeretabua, he recounted the 1987, 2000, and 2006 crises, highlighting the central role of unions as some of the few voices for democratic principles.
“Since 1987, when the first coup took place, every coup after that was just worse than the last… the level of intimidation, the violation of rights, human rights, trade union rights, and also the violence that we had to face,” he said.
He described being arbitrarily arrested and detained, often at night, and subjected to interrogation and assault.
“I got arrested, I think five times… All for nothing. I didn’t know why I was taken.
“Just about every second night you’d see them driving up… just that form of intimidation.”
Anthony acknowledged the limitations of domestic recourse.
“Locally we had nothing really going for us… the only recourse we had was international pressure.”
He stressed his dedication to representing the people over personal safety: “My personal safety doesn’t come first, I’m there to represent the people, and I do that with passion and conviction.”
Highlighting the principles of trade unions, he said: “What we recognise as trade unions is the rights of all people. That does not mean that the rights of one group supersede the rights of the others. There needs to be a fine balance.”
“When we talk about human rights, there is no race. It applies to everyone and that’s how we see it. But as a trade union, we say there is only one race, and that is the human race.”
