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CARICOM saddened by passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Published:Sunday | December 26, 2021 | 4:33 PM
Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu smiles as he celebrates his 86th birthday in Cape Town South Africa, Saturday, October 7, 2017. Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights and retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday, December 26, 2021. He was 90. (AP Photo/Mark Wessels, File)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Sunday said it is “profoundly saddened” by the death of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Tutu, who was one of South Africa's best-known figures at home and abroad, died peacefully at his home on Sunday.

He was 90 and had been ailing for some time.

He is remembered as a contemporary of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and was one of the driving forces behind the movement to end the policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the white minority government against the black majority in South Africa from 1948 until 1991.

“Archbishop Tutu's strong moral voice was a very significant factor in the successful struggle against the brutal racist policy of apartheid in his homeland. His compassionate leadership of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission during the sensitive transition period that followed the end of apartheid further elevated his national and global esteem,” CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, said in a statement.

She said Tutu, a Nobel Laureate, will be remembered as “an indefatigable fighter for human rights, justice, equality and the environment whose unquestioned integrity cements his legacy as a global icon.

“CARICOM extends its deepest sympathy to the family of Archbishop Tutu and the Government and people of South Africa on the loss of one of its greatest sons.”

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