By Nomfundo Manyathi
The University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights has been awarded the Non-governmental Organisation Prize for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights by the African Union.
The award is based on the influence of the centre’s master’s programme, the LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. The programme is a joint initiative with 12 other law faculties, to which 30 people from African countries are admitted annually.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights awarded the prize to the centre on 9 October 2012 during the commission’s 25th birthday celebration and the opening of its 52nd ordinary session in Côte d’Ivoire.
Former director of the centre, Professor Christof Heyns, who is currently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, received the award from Côte d’Ivoire President Alasanne Ouattar, on behalf of the centre.
In a press release, director of the centre, Professor Frans Viljoen said: ‘This prize recognises the centre’s distinctive blend of research, teaching and activism and the impact of its alumni and partners working across the continent for the promotion and protection of human rights.’
Nomfundo Manyathi, nomfundo@derebus.org.za
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2012 (Nov) DR 13.
