Diplomatic Asylum as a Human Right: The Case of the Durban Six

Abstract

On the eve of elections in South Africa for the Coloured assembly on 21 August 1984, South African security police arrested hundreds of people throughout the country. The arrests, aimed at political leaders opposed to the government plan to redistribute power, were made amidst considerable police brutality.' Among those detained were leading members of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Forum (NF), two coalitions formed in 1983 and comprised of trade unions, community groups, and other political organizations. The coalitions opposed the changes in the constitution introduced by the government and campaigned for a boycott of the elections. Seven of the detainees, all of whom were arrested at Durban and held at the Pietermaritzburg Prison, later challenged their detention before the Supreme Court on 7 September 1984. In an unprecedented judgment, the Court ordered their release on the ground that the Minister of Law and Order had failed to justify their incarceration. The Court found that Minister Louis Le Grange's claim that the detainees had been trying to create a revolutionary climate was insufficient to permit their arrest under Section 28 of the 1982 Security Act.2 The seven were released, but within hours the minister signed new detention orders. The police began searching for the seven former detainees, but they had already gone into hiding. On 13 September 1984, five surfaced