Preliminary Hearing announced for the Independent Inquiry into Brook House
The Brook House Inquiry will hold a preliminary hearing at 2pm on the 25 September 2020, streamed live on the Inquiry’s YouTube channel.
The independent Inquiry was set up to investigate the mistreatment of detainees at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre from April to August 2017 as depicted by the BBC’s Panorama programme, Under-Cover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets aired on 4 September 2017.
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The hearing will see the Chair, Kate Eves, open with an update on progress to date and the work the Inquiry has been doing since launch to gather evidence, identify witnesses and determine Core Participant status for those individuals or organisations with a significant interest in matters to which the Inquiry relate.
The hearing will provide an opportunity for the Chair to set out her approach to the work of the Inquiry and the granting of Core Participant status. Counsel to the Inquiry, Cathryn McGahey QC, will provide an update on the investigative work of the Inquiry and Core Participants will also be given the opportunity to make representations to the Chair.
Chaired by Kate Eves, an independent investigator with over 20 years’ experience in the detention centre field, the Inquiry aims to provide a clear picture of what happened to detainees at Brook House between April and August 2017 and make recommendations to help prevent anything like it from happening again.
Speaking about the upcoming preliminary hearing, Eves said:
“Over the past months, the Inquiry team has been gathering critical evidence and we have been pleased to hear from additional witnesses. We hope that still more people will come forward to help make sure that we can build a clear picture of what happened in Brook House in that time in 2017. I would like to encourage anyone with information to contact the Inquiry and we will make sure you have the right support to do this safely.
“We’re committed to gathering and examining all key evidence so we can understand exactly what happened in Brook House and recommend measures to prevent it ever happening again. Sharing what you know will help to ensure that this Inquiry can answer the important questions raised by the Panorama documentary.”
The preliminary hearing will be available to view live on the Inquiry’s YouTube channel from 2pm on Friday 25 September
The Inquiry is still appealing to anyone who might have information on what happened at Brook House to come forward and share what they know, including any individuals or organisations with insights into the system at Brook House at that time, who may have supported or worked with detainees or employees. The Inquiry also has the power to compel relevant witnesses to give evidence.
Anyone who has information that might be of interest to the Inquiry, is being asked to get in touch either via the free telephone line: 0800 181 4363 or by email enquiries@BrookHouseInquiry.org. More information and support concerning the Inquiry is available in 17 different languages on the website: https://brookhouseinquiry.org.uk/. The Inquiry is committed to ensuring that witnesses can give their best evidence and translation and interpretation assistance is available to support this.
