Mandela accepts Amnesty International award

Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela today accepted the Ambassador of Conscience Award, the most prestigious honour given each year by the human rights group Amnesty International.

The award was given to Mandela in Johannesburg by Nobel Prize winning-author Nadine Gordimer, who described Mandela as one of the greatest men of the 20th century, a man who – through his leadership and dedication to justice and equality – put morality back into government.

“Like Amnesty International, I have struggled for justice and human rights for long years,” said Mandela when he accepted the award.

“I am retired from public life now, but as long as injustice and inequality exist in our world none of us can rest fully. We must become stronger,” he said.