Justice Albie Sachs, Renowned Human Rights Leader, to Speak at the Arizona Historical Society Museum

Feb. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- FOR RELEASE
Albie Sachs, the renowned human rights and anti-apartheid activist and former Justice of the South Africa Constitutional Court, will give a public lecture at the Arizona Historical Society on Monday, February 15, 2010 at 7:00pm. The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and reservations are being accepted at 480-929-9499 x126 or by email at ahstempe@azhs.gov.

A chief architect of South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution, Justice Sachs was appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1994 to the country's newly established Constitutional Court, where he served until his retirement in 2009. The appointment followed decades of antiapartheid activism, during which Sachs was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders restricting his movement, and twice detained in solitary confinement without trial for prolonged periods. He eventually went into exile, spending eleven years studying and teaching law in England and another eleven years in Mozambique, where he worked as a law professor and legal researcher. In 1988, he was the target of a car bombing by South African security agents, which cost him his right arm and sight in one eye.

The presentation will begin with a multimedia tour of the South African Constitutional Court, a world-renowned building with special warmth and humanity that reflects Sachs' own deep interest in art and architecture. Developed on the site of the infamous Johannesburg prison that once held Gandhi and Mandela, the building serves as a monument to the post-apartheid spirit of an emerging nation in all its diversity.

Following the presentation, Justice Sachs will discuss the South African experience of healing divided societies through democracy. Questions from the audience will be invited.

Sachs is the author of numerous books, including Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter (2000), which chronicles his response to the 1988 car bombing, and The Free Diary of Albie Sachs (2004). His newest, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law, was published by Oxford University Press in August 2009. He holds B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Cape Town and a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex.

Th evening is presented by the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park and graciously supported by the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law; The Historical League, Inc.; Allison Quattrocchi, J.D., Family Mediation Center; the ASU School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies; the ASU School of Justice and Social Inquiry; and an anonymous donor. To attend the lecture please RSVP by February 10, 2010 to 480-929-9499 x126 or by email at ahstempe@azhs.gov.

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The AHS is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and disseminating the history of Arizona, the West, and Northern Mexico as it pertains to Arizona. The Museum at Papago Park focuses on the changes that made Arizona in the 20th-21st centuries.