DePaul law professor M. Cherif Bassiouni and Israeli Ambassador, Alan Baker, will debate issues raised by the Middle East peace process at noon March 5 at the DePaul University College of Law, 25 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 905. Both Bassiouni and Baker have been instrumental in efforts to broker peace in the Middle East. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are mandatory.

Bassiouni, who is president of DePaul’s International Human Rights Law Institute, chaired the United Nations committee that established the International Criminal Court, work that earned him a 1999 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. He also chairs the U.N. Commission to Yugoslavia and was an advisor to Anwar Sadat, the late Egyptian president, during the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty.

Baker is the legal advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He currently is involved in Middle East peace negotiations with the Palestinians. As a peace negotiator for Israel, he drafted peace treaties and other agreements with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Following opening remarks by College of Law Dean Teree Foster, Bassiouni and Baker will be given 20 minutes each to establish their views. They both will be allowed five minutes for rebuttal. The debate will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

Topics they will likely discuss include human rights violations, the right of return, what is at stake in the current peace process and what needs to be done for long-lasting peace.

The event is being co-sponsored by the DePaul University Decalogue Society, the Israeli Consulate General of the Midwest and the DePaul Student Bar Association. Reservations are mandatory and can be secured by e-mail at Decalogue35@hotmail.com or by calling the Decalogue Society at 312/362-6112.

Note to editors: Reporters interested in covering this event should call Valerie Phillips, DePaul University Media Relations, at 312/362-5039.