Our Patrons
Professor Penny Green
Professor of Law and Globalisation at Queen Mary University of London, and the Head of the Law Department. She is the Founder and Director of the award winning International State Crime Initiative (ISCI); a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at UNSW and Ulster University; Adjunct Professor at Birzeit University; also held visiting fellowships at the University of Melbourne, Latrobe University, Monash University, and Bosphorus University.
Her most recent projects include Myanmar’s genocide against its Muslim ethnic Rohingya population; and forced evictions in Palestine/Israel. Her seminal work, with ISCI colleagues, on the Rohingya genocide (Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar 2015; and Genocide Achieved, Genocide Continues: Myanmar’s Annihilation of The Rohingya 2018) has drawn widespread global attention.
Peter Oborne
A writer, journalist and producer, known for Dispatches (1987), Have I Got News for You (1990) and We Are Many (2014), Oborne was British Press Awards Columnist of the Year 2013. He was the political editor of the Spectator newspaper since 2001, and appointed chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph in 2009 which he resigned in February 2015, citing interference in editorial decisions from powerful advertisers with the newspaper as part of a decline in standards. His books include The Triumph of the Political Class, The Rise of Political Lying, and Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran.
Kiri Tunks
A teacher, trade unionist and an international solidarity campaigner, Tunks has taught in East London for 24 years. She is the current President of the National Education Union (NUT Section), a role created by the partial merger of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. She is a long-time union activist who was previously elected as Vice President of the NUT.
Dr Mustafa Ceric
Former Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1999, Ceric has received global acclaim for his work in strengthening democracy, promoting world peace, and pursuing interfaith dialogue. He was considered a pivotal leader during the war with Serbia and remains a strong voice for Muslims in Europe. He sits on the World Economic Forum’s Community of West-Islam Dialogue (C-100) and various other interfaith councils throughout Europe and the Middle East. He was one of the 138 Muslim signatories in October 2007 of A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter addressed to Christian leaders in an appeal for peace and cooperation between the two religions.
Catherine West MP
West holds a degree in Social Science and Languages and a Masters Degree in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and speaks five languages.
Before being elected as an MP she was leader of Islington Council, London. Following her election to Parliament in 2015, she was appointed to the front bench of the Official Opposition as Shadow Foreign Minister, with responsibility for the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Oceania and the Overseas Territories. She held this position until June 2017, when she returned to the backbenches. In September 2017, West was elected onto the Parliamentary Select Committee on International Trade, and the joint Committee on Arms Export Controls. She is also Deputy-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on China, Vice-Chair of the APPG on North Korea, the patron of Hong Kong Watch and the Vice-Chair of the APPG on American Football.
Sir Stephen O'Brien
Former Chairman of Barts Health NHS Trust, O’Brien is Deputy Chairman of Woods River Cruises and Water City Developments. He is Chairman of Ed Miliband’s Mental Health in Society Task Force, President of Proshanti (a charity that promotes the construction of a health centre in Bangladesh) and Vice President of Business in the Community. Previously he was Chairman of NHS Tower Hamlets, Teach First, London First, NCH Leadership Board (now Action for Children) and the Board of Governors of the University of East London.
Rajeev Dhavan
A Senior Advocate of the Indian Supreme Court, Dhavan was educated in Allahabad Cambridge and London Universities. He taught at Brunel with visiting assignment to the Universities of Texas, Madison, Delhi, the Indian Law Institute (where he is an Honorary Professor) and Melbourne. He was a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists of which he is now Hon. Member and called to the Allahabad Bar and Middle Temple.
Dr Thomas MacManus
A Research Fellow based at the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University of London School of Law, MacManus has a BA (Hons) in Law and Accounting (University of Limerick), an LLM (with distinction) in International Law (University of Westminster) and a PhD in Law and Criminology (King’s College London). He is admitted as an Attorney-at-Law (New York) and Solicitor (Ireland). He is the Editor-in-Chief of State Crime journal, and Joint Editor of Amicus Journal: Assisting Lawyers for Justice on Death Row. MacManus is also a Director of the Colombia Caravana.
Professor S. Sayyid
Professor of Rhetoric and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds, and Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy, Sayyid is the author of numerous works on Islamism, Islamophobia, critical Muslim studies, decolonial thought; and the founding editor of ReOrient: The Journal of Critical Muslim Studies. His books include: Islamism as Philosophy: Decolonial Horizons (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017); Recalling the Caliphate (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014); Racism, Governance and Social Policy, beyond human rights, Routledge Advances in Sociology Series (London: Routledge, 2013); Thinking Through Islamophobia Global Perspectives (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010); A Postcolonial People (London: Hurst Publications, 2006); and A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism (London: Zed Book Ltd, 2015), 3rd edition).
Julie Ward MEP
A Member of the European Parliament for the North West of England, she serves on the Parliament’s Culture & Education Committee, the Regional Development Committee and the Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. She is also a member of the Labour Party’s Policy Commission on Education and Children.
She previously had a long career in the cultural sector, working with marginalised communities using arts as a tool for wellbeing, empowerment and social change. She had been involved in an international delegation to Belfast to participate in an all-party discussion about the role of the arts in peace-building processes and has extensive experience of front-line grassroots work, engaging with people from all walks of life as they try to do their best for their families and their communities often in very challenging circumstances.
Amb Ebrahim Rasool
A former Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Georgetown University’s Edmund A Walsh School for Foreign Service, Rasool worked in the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, advancing an alternative paradigm to the inertia of Orthodoxies in the face of Extremisms. He is the founder of the World for All Foundation that endeavours to create a world of coexistence and that is safe for difference.
He recently completed a term of duty as South Africa’s Ambassador to the USA, an appointment that was the culmination of a distinguished record of Public Service in South Africa. Previously he served as a Member of Parliament in South Africa’s National Assembly, Special Advisor to the State President and has built up extensive experience in various Departments like Health, Welfare, Finance and Economic Development in the capacity of Provincial Minister.
AF Hassan Ariff
A Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh specialising in constitutional, corporate and commercial law, he was enrolled in the Dhaka High Court since 1970. Arrif served in the Attorney General’s Office as Assistant Attorney General between 1982-1985, Deputy Attorney General between 1985-1996, and in October 2001 as Attorney General for Bangladesh. He was an Adviser for the Ministry of Law Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Land and Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Caretaker Government, Bangladesh (2008-2009). Ariff is a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, a Panel Arbitrator of the Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre, and President of ODIKHAR – a leading human rights organisation in Bangladesh.
Prashant Bhushan
A prominent Indian lawyer, politician and a social activist, he is the son of Shanti Bhushan, the former Law Minister of India. Bhushan is noted for his use of public interest litigation (PIL) to support corruption and human rights cases; also involved with Institute of Public Policy and Politics.
Dr Richard Cockett
Editor and Correspondent at The Economist newspaper. He was Africa Editor from 2005-2010, and South-East Asia correspondent for the following four years. During that time he travelled frequently to Myanmar and Rakhine state. He has written extensively about the Rohingya in various publications including in the acclaimed book, Blood, Dreams and Gold; The changing face of Burma (2015). Before joining The Economist he was a senior lecturer in history and politics at the University of London.
He recently completed a term of duty as South Africa’s Ambassador to the USA, an appointment that was the culmination of a distinguished record of Public Service in South Africa. Previously he served as a Member of Parliament in South Africa’s National Assembly, Special Advisor to the State President and has built up extensive experience in various Departments like Health, Welfare, Finance and Economic Development in the capacity of Provincial Minister.
Justice Mohammad Abdur Rauf
Born on 1 February 1934 in the district of Mymensingh, Abdur Rauf was a Practising Advocate of Bangladesh Supreme Court and was elevated to the bench of the High Court Division as Additional Judge on 29 January 1982 and confirmed on 26 January 1984. He was elevated to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on 8 June 1995. While in the post of Justice in the High Court Division, he was appointed as the Chief election commissioner 25 December 1990 by the then President of Bangladesh Justice Sahabuddin Ahmed. He later returned to the post of justice, elevated to the Appellate Division and retired on 1 February 1999.