Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, president of the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, has worked on the shaping of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which may be the body to prosecute Saddam Hussein and senior members of his regime. He was also a consultant to the Future of Iraq project of the U.S. Department of State.

Bassiouni is available to the media for insight and analysis of Hussein’s case as it makes it way through the legal system.

Bassiouni, an expert on the Middle East, international criminal law and human rights, has been involved in the restructuring of Iraqi legal education through a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

He is a graduate of the University of Cairo Law School and fluent in Arabic. Last month, he was appointed by United Nations Secretary General as the Independent Expert for human rights on Afghanistan. For the last year, he has directed the training of 450 Afghani judges through a joint project of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Studies in Siracusa, Italy and DePaul’s International Human Rights Law Institute.

He was chairman of the U.N. Secretary Council Commission to investigate war crimes in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1994 and a chair of the drafting committee of the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court. He is a frequent commentator on issues involving Iraq and the Middle East on television and radio programs.

Bassiouni can be reached in his DePaul office at 312/362-8332.

Editor’s Note: Valerie Phillips, DePaul media relations specialist, can be reached at 312/362-5039 or 312/330-3155 (cell)for additional background, a digital photograph or assistance in reaching Bassiouni.