The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), its prosecutor and the United States presidential special envoy to Sudan will be among the distinguished panel of speakers when the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at the DePaul University College of Law hosts the Midwest Regional Conference on International Justice. “The International Criminal Court 10 Years After the Rome Conference,” will explore developments in the ICC during the past decade. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. April 25 in the lower level of the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. in Chicago. The conference is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which has been a leading funder of human rights and international justice for 30 years.

Established in July 1998 by treaty, and under the auspices of the United Nations, the ICC is the world’s first permanent, independent criminal court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.

“This conference will take a look back at the creation of the ICC as well as some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for it,” said M. Cherif Bassiouni, president of IHRLI and one of the driving forces behind the court’s establishment. “The program will also address the situations in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.”

Bassiouni, who also is the president of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Siracusa, Italy, is known globally for his extensive work in international human rights law and human rights advocacy. He will give keynote remarks at a luncheon at an 11:30 a.m.. luncheon in the Winter Garden of the Harold Washington Library Center that considers his experiences in international criminal justice and his work to establish the ICC.

Among the speakers will be:

Philippe Kirsch president of the ICC, will explore the development of the ICC from the treaty that established it until the present.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor for the ICC, will offer his view on the international criminal justice system.

Ambassador Richard Williamson is presidential special envoy to Sudan. He, along with other panelists, will address the situations in Uganda, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will discuss the role of the U.S. in promoting human rights and international justice.

John Bellinger III, legal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, will discuss the ICC and the Bush administration’s perspective on it.

Other conference participants will include:

David Scheffer, director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law and U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues; Betty Bigombe, distinguished scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition; Gayle Smith, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-chair of the ENOUGH Project, a Washington, D.C.-based agency established to end genocide and crimes against humanity; Michael Scharf director of the Fredrick K. Cox International Law Center and director of the Cox Center War Crimes Research Office, Case Western Reserve University School of Law; Douglass Casssel director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, University of Notre Dame School of Law; Mark Drumbl, director of the Transnational Law Institute, Washington and Lee University School of Law; Naomi Roht-Arriaza professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of Law and Leila Sadat, director of the Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies, Washington University School of Law.

The evolution of the ICC during the past 10 years and the impact it has had, and will have, on international criminal justice is especially critical as the court prepares to hold its first trial in June of this year. The ICC will preside over the trial of a Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, who faces charges of conscripting and using child soldiers in combat.

“The ICC has the potential to set the international standard for how some of the most heinous human rights abuses are prosecuted,” said Bassiouni. “IHRLI is honored to bring together this team of experts on international criminal law and advocates for human rights to share information about the course the ICC has charted and its future significance. Without question, the ICC and its history stand to make an indelible and positive mark on international criminal justice.”

IHRLI, which was established by the DePaul College of Law in 1990, is at the forefront of contemporary human rights research, training and advocacy. It has engaged in human rights training, post-conflict justice programs and large-scale human rights documentation projects throughout the world. It also conducts scholarly research on human rights, international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

A pre-conference student event will be held April 24 from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. to familiarize students and others with the ICC’s work. To RSVP or for additional information about the conference, visit www.law.depaul.edu/icc or call IHRLI at 312/362-5389. ###