M. Cherif Bassiouni.

We are honored to dedicate this issue of the Journal to an indefatigable champion of human rights, Cherif Bassiouni.

Professor Bassiouni was born in Egypt in an aristocratic family of distinguished lawyers. During his formative years, he prepared himself for a life of dedication and commitment to the cause of human rights and peaceful resolution of international disputes. As a teacher, a scholar and an activist, Professor Bassiouni has touched many lives and inspired many to follow his path. And, he has consistently remained true to the cause of peace, justice and human rights.

Professor Bassiouni began his teaching career at DePaul University College of Law in 1964. He specialized in international criminal law and has taught the subject since 1974. He published his first book on criminal law in 1969 and since then he has been a prolific writer, having authored or edited 65 books and over 200 law review articles in scholarly journals published in many countries and in several languages. His works have been relied upon by the highest courts in several countries and the United Nations as definitive authority.

Among Professor Bassiouni's stellar accomplishments, which are many and varied, we will highlight a selected few. He served as chair of the UN Commission of Experts to investigate violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia; the Commission's exemplary work was done, although underfunded and understaffed by the UN, with his own efforts to raise the necessary resources from governments and private foundations. The Commission served as a model for the later Rwanda Commission. Professor Bassiouni was the youngest Secretary-General of the prestigious International Association of Penal Law and now serves with distinction as its President. He founded the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in 1972 in Siracusa, Sicily, which has become a premier center for conferences, seminars and training sessions for jurists from all over the world. It was there that, in 1977, he co-chaired a Meeting of the Committee of Experts that drafted what subsequently became the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture. Since the 1980s the Institute has trained over 2000...

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