International Expert Meeting on Cultural Heritage in Iraq Ends at UNESCO
17-04-2003 ()
Some 30 leading experts met at UNESCO Headquarters today to attempt a preliminary evaluation of the state of the country’s heritage. The meeting sought to determine the urgent measures required to safeguard this heritage, which dates back thousands of years.
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, in his address to the international experts, stated: “Despite all your expertise and good will, the fate of Iraqi heritage does not lie in your hands. It lies in the hands of the international community as a whole, and the only way that we will be able to safeguard these treasures and give them back to humanity is if we can count on the cohesion, coordination and determination of all concerned, at every level”.
He renewed his appeal to “all States to adopt the emergency legal and administrative measures required to prevent the importation into their territory of any cultural, archaeological or bibliographical object having recently left Iraq” and again called upon “all museums, art dealers and private collectors to exclude these objects from any commercial transactions”.
Mr Matsuura also announced his intention “to request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to submit the question of illicit traffic to the Security Council so that a resolution can be adopted which imposes an embargo, for a limited period, on the acquisition of all Iraqi cultural objects and calls for the return of such goods to Iraq if acquisitions or exports of this kind have already taken place.
This resolution could thus be made applicable to the 191 Member States of the United Nations and not only to the 97 States Parties to the 1970 Convention”, he explained.
After recalling all the initiatives taken by UNESCO before the conflict and following the news of the looting and destruction of numerous Iraqi cultural institutions and archaeological sites, the Director-General stressed the necessity “to take emergency measures, such as the setting-up by the authorities on the ground of a nation-wide ‘heritage police’, entrusted with the task of watching over cultural sites and institutions, including libraries and buildings where archives are stored”.
He also said he would like “a database to be compiled as soon as possible, combining all of the archives, lists and inventories relating to the Iraqi heritage, which would enable customs and police authorities, as well as art dealers and all concerned parties, to identify and check the status of a particular object. Naturally, this database could only become operational once a precise appraisal has been made of the objects which have been stolen or destroyed, something that could only be done by an on-site mission”.
The Director-General thanked the numerous States who have expressed their readiness to contribute to emergency measures taken by UNESCO by means of expert help or financial support. He welcomed the initiatives of Italy, which was the first to offer a contribution of $400,000 for the protection of the Iraqi heritage. This initiative was followed by many others, growing daily in number, from States including Qatar, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Egypt, from institutions such as the United Nations Foundation and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), from scientific networks and from individuals. The Director-General expressed his delight with such initiatives, which will boost the Special Fund for the Iraqi Cultural Heritage that he has just established.
The experts issued the following statement:
“The meeting deplores and is deeply shocked by the extensive damage to, and looting of the cultural heritage of Iraq caused by the recent conflict. It calls on the coalition forces to observe the principles of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.
The meeting agreed on the following recommendations to those responsible for civil order in Iraq:
That all museums, libraries, archives, monuments and sites in Iraq be guarded and secured immediately by the forces in place
That an immediate prohibition be placed on the export of all antiques, antiquities, works of art, books and archives from Iraq
That an immediate ban be placed on the international trade in objects of Iraqi cultural heritage
That a call be made for the voluntary and immediate return of cultural objects stolen or illicitly exported from Iraq
That there be an immediate fact-finding mission under UNESCO coordination to assess the extent of damage and loss to cultural property in Iraq
That there be the facilitation of international efforts in assisting cultural institutions in Iraq.
He renewed his appeal to “all States to adopt the emergency legal and administrative measures required to prevent the importation into their territory of any cultural, archaeological or bibliographical object having recently left Iraq” and again called upon “all museums, art dealers and private collectors to exclude these objects from any commercial transactions”.
Mr Matsuura also announced his intention “to request the Secretary-General of the United Nations to submit the question of illicit traffic to the Security Council so that a resolution can be adopted which imposes an embargo, for a limited period, on the acquisition of all Iraqi cultural objects and calls for the return of such goods to Iraq if acquisitions or exports of this kind have already taken place.
This resolution could thus be made applicable to the 191 Member States of the United Nations and not only to the 97 States Parties to the 1970 Convention”, he explained.
After recalling all the initiatives taken by UNESCO before the conflict and following the news of the looting and destruction of numerous Iraqi cultural institutions and archaeological sites, the Director-General stressed the necessity “to take emergency measures, such as the setting-up by the authorities on the ground of a nation-wide ‘heritage police’, entrusted with the task of watching over cultural sites and institutions, including libraries and buildings where archives are stored”.
He also said he would like “a database to be compiled as soon as possible, combining all of the archives, lists and inventories relating to the Iraqi heritage, which would enable customs and police authorities, as well as art dealers and all concerned parties, to identify and check the status of a particular object. Naturally, this database could only become operational once a precise appraisal has been made of the objects which have been stolen or destroyed, something that could only be done by an on-site mission”.
The Director-General thanked the numerous States who have expressed their readiness to contribute to emergency measures taken by UNESCO by means of expert help or financial support. He welcomed the initiatives of Italy, which was the first to offer a contribution of $400,000 for the protection of the Iraqi heritage. This initiative was followed by many others, growing daily in number, from States including Qatar, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Egypt, from institutions such as the United Nations Foundation and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), from scientific networks and from individuals. The Director-General expressed his delight with such initiatives, which will boost the Special Fund for the Iraqi Cultural Heritage that he has just established.
The experts issued the following statement:
“The meeting deplores and is deeply shocked by the extensive damage to, and looting of the cultural heritage of Iraq caused by the recent conflict. It calls on the coalition forces to observe the principles of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.
The meeting agreed on the following recommendations to those responsible for civil order in Iraq:
Related themes/countries
· 2003
· Iraq: News Archives 2003
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