SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits memorial to 12-year-old Hector Pieterson and pays homage to victims of apartheid

Record ID: 334886

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visits memorial to 12-year-old Hector Pieterson and pays homage to victims of apartheid
  • Date: 23rd June 2011
  • Summary: SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 22, 2011) (REUTERS) VIEW OF SOWETO HECTOR PIETERSON SQUARE WITH SIGN OF SQUARE POLICE CHECKING AREA ONLOOKERS UNITED STATES OFFICIAL STANDING MEMORIAL STONE SECURITY AND WREATH MOTORCADE ARRIVING UNITED STATES FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA, ACCOMPANIED BY ANTOINETTE SITHOLE, SISTER OF HECTOR PIETERSON, WALKING DOWN STAIRS AND STANDING IN FRONT OF MEMORIAL SITHOLE EXPLAINING TO OBAMA WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DAY OF THE KILLING MEMBERS OF MEDIA EVENT TAKING PLACE OBAMA TAKES WREATH AND LAYS IT AT HECTOR PIETERSON MEMORIAL MICHELLE OBAMA HUGS ANTOINETTE SITHOLE, WALKS AWAY
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAETY4C8MIRQ07HU1SAITVMWTR2
  • Story Text: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama visited South Africa's largest township, Soweto on Wednesday (June 22) to lay a wreath at the memorial to Hector Pieterson, one of the first young victims of bloody confrontations between protesters and apartheid-era police in 1976 and 1977.
    Twelve-year-old Hector Pieterson, who was shot on June 16, 1976, was one of the first of more than 500 people killed by police during ten months on unrest which became known as the Soweto Uprising.
    Pieterson was killed during a march by township schoolchildren protesting against the use of Afrikaans as a teaching language.
    A photograph showing Pieterson's body in the arms of a man as his sister, Antoinette, runs alongside was widely circulated the international media.
    Details for the photograph have been used to create an etching in the stonework of the memorial.
    Pieterson's sister helped Obama lay the wreath at the memorial.
    Michelle Obama arrived in South Africa on Monday (June 20) on her second official solo journey abroad with a goal of advancing U.S. policies on education, health, and democracy.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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