SOAS to support independent commission of inquiry into Leicester violence
SOAS University of London Director Professor Adam Habib announced today that the university will host an independent public inquiry and related research into violence between members of South Asian communities that took place in the East Midlands city of Leicester in September 2022.
The inquiry, which is expected to last a year, seeks to understand the root causes of the disturbances, and create tools to maintain the city's longstanding reputation for intercommunal harmony and prevent future violence. The inquiry is unique and multi-dimensional: it will collect evidence, undertake research, and develop community engagement projects.
Professor Habib said: “SOAS is pleased to join the people of Leicester in pursuit of answers to the troubling events of last summer and to find ways to prevent a recurrence.”
The inquiry panel will be chaired by Juan E. Méndez, an eminent human-rights lawyer, scholar, and former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. In announcing Méndez’s appointment, Professor Habib said: “To guarantee that the highest standards of objectivity and independence are met, it’s crucial that the commission be led by an individual of unimpeachable reputation for honesty and integrity. Juan is the ideal person to serve in this role."
An expert on transitional justice, which focuses on justice in societies torn apart by political, ethnic, and other markers of difference, Méndez said: “I view responsiveness to the needs of Leicester’s residents, and hearing their truths, as the panel’s paramount obligation. The report issued by the inquiry will arise from and speak directly to those needs.”
The inquiry panel will include eminent lawyers - Schona Jolly KC, leading counsel at Cloisters Chambers (UK), who has expertise in UK and international equality, anti-discrimination and human rights law and former Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and Lisa Magarrell, a human rights and transitional justice expert based in New York who was an advisor to the community-based Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission in North Carolina (US).
Méndez will be joined in the inquiry by an academic team led by Subir Sinha, Reader in Development Studies at SOAS, and Chetan Bhatt, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, as well as a community-engagement team, overseen by Suresh Grover of The Monitoring Group, a respected London-based human rights and anti-racist organization that meets regularly with civil society representatives in Leicester. The call for an independent inquiry came directly from those meetings.
To facilitate engagement with the people of Leicester, prominent community activists, including Umesh Patel and Naim Razak, have agreed to serve as part of an advisory group to the inquiry. The inquiry will seek the widest participation from those affected.
Méndez said the inquiry’s work will be guided at every stage by the principles of objectivity, transparency, and independence. Establishing a factual chronology and the context of key events during the disturbances is the first task, he said, followed by identifying the major drivers of discord, examining the roles of statutory agencies, civil society and other actors, and finally listing major approaches to recover from these events and to prevent a recurrence.
Méndez added: “With the full participation of Leicester’s diverse communities, we expect to produce a resource with recommendations from many actors that may help to ease the prevailing tensions and build a more harmonious shared community.”
