Human Rights Festival

Festival Overview

The Constitution Hill Human Rights Festival is proud to present the 2nd edition of The Human Rights Festival. The location of this festival at Constitution Hill is highly symbolic. Constitution Hill tells the story of South Africa’s journey to democracy – a former prison and military fort which once saw the incarceration of Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, the highest court of the Republic. Constitution Hill is also a place of contrasts: of injustice and justice, of oppression and liberation. The precinct is testament to the importance of preserving sites of atrocity for posterity, and to recreating them so that they can serve the purposes of the present and mould the future.

The Human Rights Festival is one of the signature events at Constitution Hill to uphold our culture of human rights. This year’s Human Rights Festival coincides with South Africa celebrating 25 Years of Democracy as well as the 70th Year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . On reaching this milestone, we will look back at where we come from – the dark days of apartheid violence and repression - and unite to complete the task of building a country in which human rights and social justice are enjoyed by all. We will use this democratic space to reflect, dialogue and promote the work of social justice organisations.