DePaul University's College of Law has established the International Criminal Justice and Weapons Control Center to address worldwide criminal justice issues and explore the legal aspects of controlling weapons of mass destruction. Under the co-direction of professors M. Cherif Bassiouni and Barry Kellman, the center will conduct research and serve as a legal and informational resource. It will work closely with scholars, the United States and foreign governments, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.

The center will continue Bassiouni's work on globally significant programs such as the establishment of a permanent international criminal court to try individuals charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It will also work to develop international guidelines regulating international impunity, and will provide support for international criminal accountability and control of international crimes. The weapons control programs will complement Kellman's research and focus on providing legal and informational resources to assist in monitoring and enforcing disarmament and weapons reduction agreements.

"Both Cherif Bassiouni and Barry Kellman bring to the center superb achievements in the international arena, as well as expansive contacts and influence throughout the international community," said Teree E. Foster, dean of the College of Law. "Their acumen and experience will serve to enhance the world's understanding of the legal aspects of international human rights, criminal justice and weapons control. The center's work is yet another manifestation of DePaul's mission to use the law and legal education to make the world a better place. The center will also serve as a fertile training ground for students interested in practicing international law."

Bassiouni is one of the world's leading authorities on international criminal law and human rights and has written extensively in these areas. He currently serves as president of the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP) headquartered in Paris. The AIDP is the world's oldest scholarly association with more than 3,000 members and affiliates in 97 countries. Bassiouni is also president of the the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) in Siracusa, Italy, a U. N.-affiliated organization which was founded in 1972 and has hosted some 200 international conferences. He has also been a frequent consultant to the U. N. and the government since 1975. Most significantly, he served as chairman of the U.N. Security Council's Commission which investigated war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. It was his work that led to the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He presently serves a vice chairman of the U.N. General Assembly Preparatory Committee for a Permanent International Criminal Court. In June 1988, the work of this committee will culminate in a U. N. diplomatic conference in Rome to adopt a convention for a permanent international criminal court.

"With the establishment of the center, DePaul is positioned to take a leading role in exploring and influencing cutting edge international criminal justice and weapons control issues," said Bassiouni. "It will also make DePaul part of major U.N. programs, as well as other global programs, that focus on international criminal law."

Kellman is among the world's foremost legal authorities on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), having served as chair of its committee of legal experts established by the Organization for the Prohibition Chemical of Weapons, and as lead author of the "Manual for National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention." He has twice testified before the U.S. Senate in support of United States ratification and implementation of the CWC. Kellman, who chairs the arms control section of the American Society of International Law, has published and is actively engaged in work on nuclear non-proliferation, the prohibition of land mines and biological weapons control.

"The dissolution of the Soviet Union sparked widespread consensus in favor of weapons control, but many questions remain unresolved concerning how to achieve multilateral consensus among nations with divergent interests," said Kellman. "Verification of rigorous control measures requires regulation and inspection of private industry, which has legal rights and legitimate interests that deserve protection. In keeping with DePaul's commitment to service, the center will provide the only law school program in the world committed to addressing the legal aspects of controlling weapons of mass destruction."

Working in conjunction with the ISISC, the center will develop, and encourage the U. N. to develop, international impunity guidelines. It will also advocate a U.N. treaty to establish accountability for people who commit international crimes and provide defense assistance for international criminal tribunals and the international criminal court.

In addition, the center will sponsor conferences and meetings on the subject of impunity and develop a handbook for post-conflict justice administration that can be used as a tool to restore justice systems that have collapsed in the wake of civil unrest.

Working to control organized crime, international trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation and international terrorism will be other areas of concentration. The center will meet these objectives by producing a book containing all U.N. documents and studies on organized crime since 1975 and one which includes all U.N. documents on the issue of terrorism. A two-year field project in various parts of the world will also be established to identify patterns of illegal trafficking of women and children and to assist in preventing it.

Planned programs for weapons control include assisting in the monitoring and enforcement of disarmament and weapons reduction agreements, developing a legal system to establish a weapons-of-mass-destruction-free zone in the Middle East and establishing criminal justice systems for the enforcement of the CWC and the Biological Weapons Convention. Along with these programs, the center will also conduct studies on the threat of organized crime and terrorist groups smuggling and using weapons of mass destruction.

Several of the center's programs are well underway. Grants for the center's work have already been secured from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Merck Fund, the United States Department of Energy, the W. Alton Jones Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Bassiouni and Kellman are available to the media for expert commentary on international criminal justice, human rights and weapons-related issues. Bassiouni can be reached at 312/362-8332 and Kellman can be reached at 312/362-5258. The center is located at DePaul's Loop Campus, 25 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago.