African Activist Archive

The press release says visiting Amherst College Professor Dennis Brutus, under deportation order from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, has received support from House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, D-Mass., for his application for political asylum. Brutus, a tenured professor at Northwestern University, is an internationally recognized human rights advocate. Raised in South Africa, Brutus was banned for his teachings and writings, shot by the South African police, and then imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 months. Encyclopedia Britannica has acclaimed Brutus as one of the most significant African poets to emerge in the 1960s, and Gordon Winter, a defected South African agent, describes Brutus as one of the 20 most effective opponents of the South African government. Brutus supporters remain concerned that, if deported, he will face danger from South African agents who target Pretoria's opponents for assassination. Representatives Silvio Conte (R-Mass.), Edward P. Boland (D-Mass.), Margaret Heckler (R-Mass.), and Edward Moakley (D-Mass.) have also urged that Brutus not be deported. The Congressional Black Caucus, Senator Paul Tsongas D-Mass., and Senator Howard Metzenbaum D-Ohio also have appealed not to deport Dennis Brutus. The State Department is soon expected to issue an advisory opinion on the political asylum request; Judge Schwartz will then reconvene the hearings to allow time for processing of the political asylum application. The press release mentions Assistant Secretary of Human Rights Elliot Abrams, Joe Gqabi, and the African National Congress (ANC).

African Activist Archive

HOUSE SPEAKER O'NEILL LENDS NAME TO GROWING CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT

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Coverage Africa

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Rights Management

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