Scholarship at the seam of human rights, Indigenous justice and colonial legacy.
Indigenous rights · civil rights · environmental justice — research, advocacy and policy.
01 — About
A scholar grounded in Indigenous experience, knowledge systems and epistemologies.
I am a scholar originally from Zimbabwe, currently based in the United States. My work is situated at the intersection of human and civil rights, Indigenous criminal justice and environmental justice.
Since 2011, when I was an undergraduate student at Rhodes University in South Africa, my passion for human rights has shaped an intellectual and professional trajectory that has traversed geographical, disciplinary and epistemological boundaries — from Southern Africa to the United States, and ultimately to my current position at Cornell University — Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures, where I continue to develop a scholarly agenda centred on Indigenous justice, human rights and the enduring legacies of colonialism.
- 4
- Degrees across two continents
- 12+
- Peer-reviewed works & chapters
- 2023
- Appointed ACHPR expert member
02 — Journey
From Southern Africa to the United States.
A path traced across geographies, disciplines and epistemologies — each stop sharpening the same question of who the law protects, and who it was built to overlook.
2011 — 2016
Rhodes University, South Africa
Grahamstown
A Bachelor of Social Science and an LLB. The years where a passion for human rights turned into a discipline, and where questions about land, belonging and violence first took intellectual shape.
2016 — 2018
Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, Michigan
LL.M in the American Legal System as a MasterCard Foundation Scholar — a crossing from Southern Africa into United States law, comparative rights practice and Indian legal services research.
2018 — 2022
University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law
Tucson, Arizona
Doctor of Juridical Science in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy. Dissertation on Indigenous Data Sovereignty and its implications for UNDRIP, alongside fellowships with the ACLU of Montana and UCLA's Native Nations Law and Policy Center.
2022 — 2024
Arizona State University · ROVV Lab
Phoenix, Arizona
Postdoctoral scholar building a consultation framework with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples survivors, and convening an Indigenous Survivor Advisory Group to lead victim-centred research design.
2023 — present
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Working Group on Indigenous Populations
Appointed Expert Member — country visits, testimony gathering and recommendations on violations against Indigenous populations, communities and minorities across Africa.
2025 — present
Cornell University
Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures
Examining the comparative entanglements of Blackness and Indigeneity, and grassroots movements such as Black Lives Matter and MMIP as sites of resistance — where law is both instrument of oppression and tool for justice.
03 — Areas of focus
Three currents of one argument.
Human & Civil Rights
Situating the civil rights movement within the international human rights framework — from children's rights monitoring in Kenya to civil liberties litigation research in Montana.
- International law
- Civil liberties
- Advocacy
Indigenous Criminal Justice
Decolonising Indigenous–state criminal justice relations, victim-centred MMIP research, tribal code reform, and epistemic justice as the foundation of transformative practice.
- MMIP
- Tribal codes
- Epistemic justice
Environmental & Data Justice
Indigenous data sovereignty under UNDRIP, cultural resource protection, and Indigenous knowledge on natural resource management, environmental protection and climate resilience.
- UNDRIP
- Data sovereignty
- Climate
04 — Research & publications
Selected writing.
Peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reports on Indigenous justice, data sovereignty and the international right to health.
- 01
Decolonising Indigenous–State Criminal Justice Relations in Settler-Colonial Contexts
Epistemic Justice as a Foundation for Transformative Practice
Decolonization of Criminology and Justice, 8(1) · Online first
- 02
Extraction of Personal Data: A “New” Form of Colonialism or Continuation of a Colonial Practice?
Adult Native American adoptees resist assimilation and rebuild erased identities
American Indian Law Journal, Vol. 10, Iss. 2 · 2022
- 03
Odawa Cultural Practices to Treat Substance Addictions
A tour of the Healing to Wellness Court
Fourth World Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1 · 2020
- 04
Curriculum Vitae
Full record of education, appointments, publications and presentations
Leonard Mukosi, S.J.D. · Updated
Also in print
- Dakota Access Pipeline: A Case of Cultural Genocide? — in Green Crimes and International Criminal Law (Vernon Press, 2020)
- Re-Conceptualizing the International Human Right to Health — 22 San Diego Int'l L.J. 41 (2020)
- A Systematic Analysis of Statewide Reports on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples in the US — Rural Sociology (2024)
- Who Is Indigenous? An Experiential Reckoning on Identity and Belonging Beyond Imposed Boundaries — The Futures Forum, Cornell CRJEF
05 — Collaborate
Research, advocacy and litigation support for Indigenous, human and civil rights work.
Available for academic collaboration, expert consultation, policy drafting, speaking engagements and community-partnered research.
- leomukosi@gmail.com
- Academic
- lm986@cornell.edu
- Phone
- +1 517 481 0592
- Based in
- 5005 W Evans Dr, Glendale, AZ 85306