Diplomatic asylum: its problems and potential as a means of protecting rights

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Periodical article

Title:	Diplomatic asylum: its problems and potential as a means of protecting rights
Author:	Jeffery, Anthea J.
Year:	1985
Periodical:	South African Journal on Human Rights
Volume:	1
Issue:	1
Pages:	10-30
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	right of asylum diplomatic law
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.1985.11827665
Abstract:	The 13th September, 1984 six men, all leading members of the United Democratic Front and Natal Indian Congress, took refuge against threatened detention without trial in the British Consulate in Durban. This drama, which lasted three months, highlights diplomatic asylum as a means of protecting fundamental human rights but also demonstrates the inadequacies of international law in this regard. This article examines the following questions: Was the United Kingdom government entitled to grant the six asylum? Did the South African government have the right forcibly to enter the consular premises and arrest the fugitives? Do the present rules of international law provide a sufficient and satisfactory framework in circumstances such as these? - Notes.