Attorney Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs spent the majority of his adult life fighting against South African apartheid. Today at 65, the justice of the South Africa Constitutional Court is talking about the true atrocities committed during apartheid that were recorded by a special government-created panel that would have been unheard of in the 1960s when he was jailed for his activism. Sachs will visit DePaul to discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its findings at 3 p.m. April 19 in the Lewis Center, 25 E. Jackson Blvd. Room 905.

     The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, investigated 34 years of South Africa's darkest history under apartheid. In 1988 it produced a 3,500-page document that delved into human rights abuses by both opponents and proponents of the apartheid system that separated the races. This system, which fostered domination by a minority population of whites, was the law of the land in South Africa until 1994.

     The commission's report is based on spoken and written testimony from more than 21,000 people including political leaders, generals and policemen. It also encompasses information from public records and hearings.

     Sachs, a white South African, vocally opposed apartheid. He became the subject of government scrutiny and was arrested in the 1960s, even though no specific charge was leveled. He was placed in solitary confinement for 90 days and arrested again before he fled his homeland and went into exile in England.

     After earning a law degree from the University of Cape Town, Sachs began practicing law as an Advocate at the Cape Town Bar in 1957, where he worked primarily on civil rights cases. During his exile in England he earned a doctorate at the University of Sussex and taught law at the University of Southampton.

     Sachs went back to Africa in 1977 to teach in Mozambique and in 1983, he served as director of research in the Ministry of Justice. In 1988, after losing his arm in a terrorist car bombing, he returned to England and later that year became the founding director of the South Africa Constitution Studies Centre based at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.

     Ever concerned about the human rights conditions in his homeland, Sachs took an active part in the negotiations for a new South African constitution in post-apartheid as a member of the Constitutional Committee of the African National Congress.

     He also is the author of numerous publications on human rights and penned the book "The Jail Dairy of Albie Sachs," which chronicled his incarceration, and of another autobiographical volume, "The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter," which deals with his recovery from the car bomb.

     "Abie Sachs' personal experiences and legal background will serve as an excellent platform from which he can discuss the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its findings," said Teree E. Foster, College of Law dean. "He serves as a true example of the need to be ever vigilant in the face of human rights abuses."

     The event is free and open to the public. For more information call the College of Law at 312/362-8701.