M. Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University law professor and president of the DePaul College of Law International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI), and 55 international legal experts have urged President Clinton to aid in the arrest of two former Bosnian Serb leaders named in indictments by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Despite being indicted on 75 counts by the tribunal, Bassiouni said, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and former Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic have not been arrested.

Bassiouni's call for action, contained in his April 22 letter to President Clinton, is an outgrowth of an April 13 Washington conference titled "Reining in Impunity for International Crimes and Serious Violations of Human Rights."

Bassiouni, who is vice chairman of the U.N. Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court, said that President Clinton's authority to take such action is authorized by the United Nation's Security Council Resolution 827.

"We are not unmindful of the risks inherent in effectuating such arrests, even if carefully planned," Bassiouni wrote in his letter to President Clinton.

"However, the risks to the integrity of international criminal justice, the Security Council, NATO and the United States are far greater. The failure to arrest Dr. Karadzic and Gen. Mladic compromises both justice and peace and undermines the Dayton Accords," said Bassiouni.

"Such action would demonstrate that the commitment of the United States to justice through the prosecution of persons charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes is genuine," according to Bassiouni.

Copies of the letter are also addressed to Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.

The Washington meeting was part of an ongoing IHRLI project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Open Society Institute, which is part of the Soros Foundation of New York and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) of Siracusa, Italy.

The project is exploring international investigations and judicial bodies since World War I. Also under examination are studies into the policies and practices of impunity and the development of accountability mechanisms.

The next meeting will be held in Siracusa, Italy, in September and Bassiouni has asked President Clinton to send a representative.

Bassiouni, an internationally recognized expert on international law and human rights violations, repeatedly has called for the creation of a permanent tribunal to deal with international crimes. He has also urged the prosecution of rape, maintaining that sexual violence in Bosnia was deliberately and systematically employed as a tool of ethnic cleansing.

For more information call Bassiouni at 312/362-8701.