Cultural heritage should be protected

UNESCO is not a police force

Published on 22 July 2011

Author(s): The Voice of Russia/Olga Bugrova

Type:  News

The 35th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee has focused on protecting cultural monuments during armed conflicts and revolutionary uprisings. Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova presented the outcome of the session during a Paris-Moscow video link.

Moscow-Paris video link was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, the next session of the UNESCO Committee will be held in St. Petersburg, which is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Secondly, many years ago, Russia ratified the World Heritage Convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural heritage adopted in 1972. UNESCO is guided by this important document and is making efforts to protect cultural monuments, especially where armed conflicts are raging.

Russia supports it actively. For one, during the Iraq war between 2003 and 2010, the famous Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg joined in the restoration and preservation of displays at Iraqi museums, which were damaged during fighting. Here is an opinion from Irina Bokova.

“One of the first steps we are taking is drawing the attention of the rival sides of the conflict to the necessity of preserving cultural heritage regardless of the reasons that have led to the conflict. These reasons could be linked to social transformation or civilian split,” says Irina Bokova.

UNESCO foto EPA.jpg
UNESCO Head Quarters in Paris.Photo: EPA

Unfortunately, preventive measures are seemed to be ineffective against a background of military conflicts involving international forces. Historical monuments are destroyed, museums are robbed and artifacts are sold in shops and markets. Nevertheless, UNESCO is doing its best to evacuate rarities or search and return them. There was such a situation in Afghanistan where national museum in Kabul posed a threat during the conflict. Concerning this, Irina Bokova has this to say.

“UNESCO evacuated part of the exposition and handed over to the museums in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Italy for protection. At present, all these have been returned to Afghanistan. In fact, UNESCO has played a leading role in the reconstruction of the museum in Kabul,” says Irina Bokova.

Concerning conflict zones, Irina Bokova has this to say.

“The situation in Libya worries us seriously. At the very beginning of the internal conflict in Libya, I sent letters to the member countries of the western coalition forces, which are launching attacks on the country, and the Libyan leaders. We also sent maps where the world heritage sites are marked. We do not know what has happened to cultural sites since the conflict is still going on,” Irina Bokova said.

UNESCO is not a police force. We are holding dialogues with the governments and sending letters urging to honour the Convention, which fully depends on the countries that signed it. At present, 178 countries have signed the convention. This is not a small number, which is sufficient to save the cultural heredity of mankind by coordinating efforts.

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