By institutionalizing torture in its “war on terrorism,” the United States under George W. Bush’s presidential administration lost moral ground and violated national and international law, said M. Cherif Bassiouni in his new book. An internationally known scholar, Bassiouni is president emeritus of the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) in DePaul University’s College of Law.

Titled “The Institutionalization of Torture by the Bush Administration: Is Anyone Responsible?” (September 2010, Intersentia), Bassiouni’s book outlines how the U.S. engaged in a seven-year program of torture involving an estimated 200,000 people and resulting in more than 100 deaths, under the guise of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism.

“Are the events of Sept. 11, 2001 enough to reopen the question of whether the medieval practice of torture should be allowed? The answer to [this] question must be a resounding and unqualified ‘no,’” Bassiouni wrote in his foreword. “The nation needs to know why relatively few did so much harm to so many victims, because a handful at the top made it happen.”

In the book, Bassiouni analyzes how U.S. governmental institutions bypassed international law to enable the creation of a policy that allowed torture.

“History teaches us that abusive regimes always start on a slippery slope, with one erosion of the rule of law leading to another, and during that process, the general public accepts these erosions out of fear, indifference, or callousness,” Bassiouni said. “When that happens, the nation’s moral compass no longer points to the right direction, and the right path is lost.”

Bassiouni, a noted international human rights law scholar, founded the IHRLI at DePaul in 1990. Since its creation, the IHRLI has been at the forefront of contemporary human rights research, training and advocacy. President of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Syracuse, Italy, and honorary president of the International Association of Penal Law in Paris, France, Bassiouni is known globally for his extensive work in international human rights law and human rights advocacy.

Bassiouni was co-chair of the Committee of Experts that prepared the first draft of the 1984 Convention Against Torture (1977-1978); and member, then chairman, of the Security Council’s Commission to Investigate War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia (1992-1994). He was an independent expert for the Commission on Human Rights on The Rights to Restitution, Compensation and Rehabilitation for Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1998-2000), and the United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2006. In the former Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan, Bassiouni had firsthand experience in recording many cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of innocent persons, rape, and torture.

Upcoming programs that Bassiouni will participate in include the following:

● “Atrocity Crimes Litigation Year-in-Review (2010),” 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Jan. 31, Northwestern University School of Law Bluhm Legal Clinic, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Rubloff Building, Chicago. Bassiouni is the luncheon speaker from noon to 1:30 p.m. For more information, contact Virginia Richardson at 312-503-8579 or v-richardson@law.northwestern.edu.

● “The Institutionalization of Torture: Is Anyone Responsible?”, Feb. 24, The Chicago Club, 81 E. Van Buren St., Chicago. Reception: 5:30 p.m.; program: 6 p.m. Cost is $10 for young professional members, $20 for members and $30 for nonmembers. For more information and to register, visit www.thechicagocouncil.org.

Editor’s note: To interview Bassiouni about this book, contact Judith Wolford at (312) 362-5922 or jwolfor1@depaul.edu. For more information about the book, visit http://www.intersentia.com/searchDetail.aspx?bookId=101412.

About DePaul
With more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, non-profit university in the Midwest, The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on two Chicago campuses, four suburban campuses and three international locations. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.depaul.edu.