Human Rights Day in South Africa
Human Rights Day in South Africa is held on March 21. This event in the third decade of the month March is annual.
Human Rights Day in South Africa is historically linked with 21 March 1960, and the events of Sharpeville. On that day 69 people died and 180 were wounded when police fired on a peaceful crowd that had gathered in protest against the Pass laws. The anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre is remembered the world over every March 21 on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
This day marked an affirmation by ordinary people, rising in unison to proclaim their rights. It became an iconic date in country’s history that today we commemorate as Human Rights Day as a reminder of rights and the cost paid for treasured human rights.
Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.