Kerry: Remove Nelson Mandela from US terror watch list

By Globe Staff

Senator John F. Kerry introduced legislation today that would remove Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela from US terrorism watch lists.

(Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)

Mandela and other members of African National Congress have remained on terror watch lists for activities they conducted against South Africa’s apartheid regime decades ago, according to a press release from Kerry’s office.

"Nelson Mandela is one of the world’s strongest voices for human dignity and courage in the face of oppression," Kerry said in the release. "The idea that he’d be on our government’s terror watch list is deplorable. No bureaucratic snafu can excuse this international embarrassment, and we need to fix this policy now."

(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/file)

Kerry's legislation would grant the secretary of state the authority to remove Mandela and others from the terror lists after consulting with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security. The proposal mirrors a House Foreign Affairs Committee bill.

Mandela was inaugurated as the first democratically elected state president of South Africa in May 1994 after he served more than 27 years in prison.

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