Accepting the award Nelson Mandela said: “Like Amnesty International, I have been struggling for justice and human rights, for long years. I have retired from public life now. But as long as injustice and inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. We must become stronger still.

“Through the work of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, I am continuing my struggle for human rights.”

On the same occasion the organization presented Nelson Mandela and the Nelson Mandela Foundation with five volumes of public reports and campaigns issued by Amnesty International between the 1960s and 1994 on human rights abuses in South Africa.

In accepting the Ambassador of Conscience Award, Nelson Mandela graciously acknowledged Amnesty International’s contribution in the fight for human rights.

Nelson Mandela was a victim of great injustice, tried and sentenced under a system of apartheid founded on racism and denied a fair trial.