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It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing this morning of M. Cherif Bassiouni. Professor Bassiouni was an emeritus professor of law and, and president emeritus of the International Human Rights Law Institute, which he helped found in 1990. He began teaching at DePaul's College of Law in 1964. He is survived by his wife Elaine Klemen-Bassiouni, stepdaughter Lisa Capitanini and two grandchildren. A private funeral service is planned Tuesday for family and friends. A public memorial is being planned for the future.
Too see the Chicago Sun Times obituary:
http://chicago.suntimes.com/
Source: Mission and Values email, September 25, 2017
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DePaul’s M. Cherif Bassiouni, global ‘champion of justice,’ dead at 79
M. Cherif Bassiouni was a champion of human rights who fought torture, war crimes and genocide around the globe.
A longtime DePaul University law professor, Mr. Bassiouni died Monday at his Streeterville home. He was 79 and had multiple myeloma.
Over the years, he held 22 United Nations appointments, and he assisted on the Camp David peace accords, according to Daniel Swift, a lawyer who worked with him.
Benjamin Ferencz, who at 98 is the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg war crimes trials, said Monday that Mr. Bassiouni “was a real contributor to international criminal law and the rule of law to protect human rights.”
Bianca Jagger, founder of the London-based Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, called Mr. Bassiouni “a champion of justice.
“Cherif Bassiouni was one of the most consistent, courageous and knowledgeable people I have ever met . . . someone who went after and investigated what happened in Bosnia and Srebrenica,” Jagger said.
In Bosnia, Mr. Bassiouni worked on a “monumental effort that documented mass killings, human rights abuses. . . . and resulted in the prosecution of hundreds including” Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, said Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Chicago
In a 1999 Chicago Sun-Times interview, he said he thought his work contributed to a 1995 heart attack. For two years, he spent two weeks out of each month at a U.N. field office in Geneva and a week conducting field operations in the former Yugoslavia. His team identified 151 mass graves.
“Emotionally, it was devastating,” he said, “especially as a result of the interviews that we conducted with the rape victims.”
Born in Cairo, he was the son of Ibrahim Bassiouni, an Egyptian diplomat to India. His grandfather, Mahmoud Ibrahim Bassiouni, helped lead the 1919 revolt against British rule, according to Swift. Mr. Bassiouni served in the Egyptian army in the 1956 Suez War.
He was educated at the University of Cairo, received a law degree from Indiana University, did further legal studies at John Marshall Law School and got a doctorate of law from George Washington University. He was a founding member of the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul, where he started in 1964.
In 1972, he helped found the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Italy. “His vision of international justice inspired students and teachers throughout the world,” Ferencz said.
Though serious, Mr. Bassiouni showed a lighter side in Siracusa when he faced off against other professors and students in a badminton game. Mr. Bassiouni’s team kept winning, Ferencz said, because “he brought in some ringers from the Chicago Police Department.”
He was a consultant to the State Department on the American hostages held captive by Iran in 1979 and 1980.
He is survived by his wife Elaine Klemen-Bassiouni, stepdaughter Lisa Capitanini and two grandchildren. A public memorial is being planned, Swift said.
Ferencz held Mr. Bassiouni in such high esteem that he bestowed on him a medal which once belonged to Vespasian Pella, Romanian ambassador to the League of Nations who in the 1930s called for an international court for criminal cases.
“When Pella died, I was still in Europe working on the Nuremberg trials and compensation for the victims,” Ferencz said, “and I visited his widow, and she gave me a medal” belonging to Pella. “I accepted it, but when Cherif ended his tenure at the International Association of Penal Law, I flew down to Budapest and gave him the medal.”
Maureen O'Donnell
@suntimesobits | email
Source: Sun Times Obits, September 25, 2017
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DEPAUL COMMUNITY REMEMBERS EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF LAW M. CHERIF BASSIOUNI
Human rights advocate, renowned legal scholar and DePaul University Emeritus Professor of Law M. Cherif Bassiouni died Sept. 25 at the age of 79. A memorial service to celebrate his life is being planned, however, no details are available at this time.
Professor Bassiouni joined DePaul's College of Law in 1964. As a professor, he introduced the field of international human rights law to generations of students and inspired many to follow in his footsteps, forging careers fighting for the rights of powerless people around the globe.
In 1990, he founded DePaul's International Human Rights Law Institute, over which he presided until 2008, a year before he retired. During those years, the institute became world famous, involving many students who went on to pursue international careers. His teaching, scholarship and international accomplishments have garnered dozens of awards from many nations, including 11 medals of honor and 10 honorary degrees - one conferred by DePaul University in 2015.
Professor Bassiouni believed strongly in the rule of law, and sought to improve the administration of justice around the world by speaking truth to power. For decades, he had been the United Nations' choice to conduct investigations where genocide, murder, rape, sexual slavery, violence against citizens, pillaging of property and other heinous crimes were suspected, including in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bahrain and Libya.
"Cherif was one-of-a-kind, an incredible teacher and prolific scholar who touched the minds of so many who follow in his footsteps," says Jennifer Rosato Perea, dean of the College of Law. "His legacy in furthering human rights around the world will be felt for generations. Although we can never fill the void that Cherif left, we can continue to honor him through the law school's work in human rights locally and globally."
"During his 45 years at DePaul, Cherif made many contributions to the university and to the international community," notes Bruce Ottley, a professor of law who had been a colleague since 1978. "In addition to being a renowned and prolific scholar and excellent classroom teacher, he believed that he had an obligation to put into practice what he taught. He established the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Italy, which brought together government officials, lawyers, and academics from all over the world to study problems of criminal justice and human rights."
"Cherif established the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul, which gave students an opportunity to become involved in human rights projects in Central America, the Middle East and other parts of the world," Ottley says. "He was the chair of the group that drafted the Rome Treaty, creating the International Criminal Court. He also put his own life at risk while investigating and collecting evidence of war crimes in Bosnia in the 1990s. DePaul and the international community owe a deep debt of gratitude to Cherif. He will be sorely missed in these difficult times."
Bassiouni was born in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 9, 1937. He was the son of an Egyptian ambassador and the grandson of the first president of the Egyptian Senate. He fought for the Egyptian National Defense in the Suez War of 1956 and immigrated to the United States in 1962.
During his career, Bassiouni testified before Congress 18 times, authored, co-authored or edited 80 books and wrote 269 articles. He studied law in Dijon, France, and Geneva, Switzerland before obtaining an LL.B. from the University of Cairo in Egypt. He also pursued his legal education the United States where he earned the following degrees: J.D. Indiana University, LL.M. John Marshall Law School, and S.J.D. George Washington University.
Bassiouni is survived by his wife Elaine Klemen-Bassiouni, his stepdaughter, Lisa Capitanini, and two step-grandchildren.
Read more about Professor Bassiouni's life and his service at http://depaulne.ws/M_Cherif_Bassiouni.
Source: Newsline, online, September 28, 2017
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