Archbishop Desmond Tutu new patron of the RCT

We are excited that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has agreed to be patron of the RCT. It is a great honor and a privilege for our organization, that such an important person in the struggle for Human Rights wishes to support our work for a world free from torture and other forms of organized violence, says Professor Bengt H. Sjölund, director of the RCT.

Bengt H. Sjölund points out the Archbishop's nonviolent struggle against the apartheid system and other human rights violations as reasons for choosing the Archbishop as patron.

- Dr. Tutu has set an example for all who fights for a world with universal human rights. We try humbly to follow in his footsteps. Currently, we have programs in 15 countries where we help prevent torture and assist in developing capacity in rehabilitation of torture victims, says Bengt H. Sjölund.

One of these countries is the Archbishop's homeland, South Africa, where RCT works in close connection with The Centre for Study on Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR).
RCT cooperates with the centre around rehabilitation and also for advocacy.

-Humanity needs organizations like RCT that decade after decade carry out risky, uphill, and often unrecognized work towards a world free from torture. I am glad that RCT continues to sharpen its tools in the campaign against torture. I am proud to be Patron of RCT and value enormously its contribution in helping all of us become more human, compassionate and caring, says Desmond Tutu.


A lifelong struggle for human rights
Desmond Tutu was born in Klerksdorp on October 7th 1931. He has been married to Leah Nomalizo Shenxane in more than fifty years, and together they have four children. Desmond Tutu was originally trained as a teacher with a Bachelor of Arts. He only taught for three years before he quit his job because of the poor teaching conditions for the black population.

In 1961 he was educated a priest and from 1976 to 1978 he was the bishop of the Anglican Church in Lesotho. In this period his criticism of Apartheid became more and more pronounced, however, never without speaking of reconciliation of people.

Nobel laureate
In 1984 he received Nobel's Peace Prize for his fight against Apartheid and pro reconciliation. In 1985 he became the archbishop in Johannesburg and the following year he became the first black person to be appointed to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa as he was appointed archbishop of Cape Town.

In the 1990s he was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, which should witness, document, and in some cases grant amnesty to persons who had violated human rights in South Africa. The Committee was created in the wake of the apartheid system's completion in 1994.

In the 1990s he was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the specific obligation to certify, document and, in some cases, grant amnesty to persons who had violated the human rights in South Africa. The commission was established in the wake of the end of the Apartheid system in 1994.

Among other things, Desmond Tutu has particular voiced criticism of Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, the lack of treatment of HIV / AIDS infected persons in South Africa, the Israeli government's mistreatment of Palestinians and generally about violation of the human rights.

He has now retired from public life, but is still involved in the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, which he founded together with his wife in 1998. And now, he is also protector of the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT).
For more information about Desmond Tutu, visit www.tutu.org