US Embassy mourns Cherif Bassiouni

Cairo- 27 September 2017: The U.S. Embassy in Cairo mourned on Wednesday the death of renowned Egyptian-American Cherif Bassiouni, the “father of international criminal law,” who passed away in the United States.



Mahmous Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian American law professor who helped create the International Criminal Court in 1998 after having spent decades investigating human rights abuses from apartheid-era South Africa to the former Yugoslavia, died September 25 at his home in Chicago. He was 79, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Daniel Swift, a lawyer who worked in Bassiouni’s legal practice, said the cause was complications from multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in plasma cells, Washington Post added.

Egyptian TV anchor Serif Amer tweeted on Tuesday “amid seas of shallowness and silliness, nobody cares for the death of Dr.Cherif Bassiouni who is known as the godfather of international criminal law, mercy upon him and us.”

وسط بحور من السطحية و التفاهات ، لا يلتفت أحد لوفاة من يوصف بأبو القانون الجنائي الدولي الدكتور شريف بسيوني.
رحمك الله يا دكتور ، و رحمنا.

— Sherif Amer (@Sherif_Amer_) ٢٥ سبتمبر، ٢٠١٧

Bassiouni is often referred to by the media as “the godfather of international criminal law” and a “war crimes expert.” His effort was crucial for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, Bassiouni’s official website stated.

Bassiouni was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1932 and immigrated to the United States in 1962. He was president of the Scientific Council of the Global Committee for the Rule of Law.

In 1972, Bassiouni was one of the founders of the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) located in Syracuse, Italy, where he served as general secretary from 1972-74, dean from 1974-88 and then aspPresident.


Painting of Professor Bassiouni - cc Roberto Caruso 2013.png