The escalation in tensions registered in the Mediterranean region during the last two decades calls on Cultural Heritage operators and stakeholders respond with a realistic and effective action in the protection of CH in areas of conflict. A policy based on an international share of responsibilities and an increased institutional as well as personal commitment is needed.
The EC sponsored Euromed Heritage programme RMSU intends to stimulate the partner countries to participating in the debate on the protection of cultural heritage in times of war.
Euromed Heritage offers a unique platform for debate within the process started with the Barcelona agreement.
The first of several thematic workshops, this is expressly tailored to provide an original contribution by gathering around a table the most prominent representatives of the Euro-Mediterranean community engaged in the field. In this context they will be encouraged to openly discuss and jointly propose possible alternatives to counteract future attacks on cultural heritage.
Background
The creation in 1996 of the International Committee of the Blue Shields (ICBS) by four international NGOs (ICOMOS, ICA, ICOM and IFLA) in coordination with UNESCO and ICCROM, meant to address the problem of the protection of cultural heritage in times of armed conflicts. The Committee was expressly created to participate in securing the enforcement of the principles contained in the Hague Convention and in several other international recommendations.
However, it is evident that none of the existing international organizations was enabled to intervene and prevent events such as the bombing of cultural heritage in Bosnia, Palestine and Iraq, just to mention some of the most dramatic and familiar cases recently highlighted.
On December 2003, Costa Rica notified UNESCO its ratification of the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the most recent signatory country to ratify it to-date. However only 20 countries have ratified the Protocol so far.
On March the 9th, 2004 the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, entered into force for its twenty first State Parties.
However, promoting awareness on both individual and institutional responsibilities laying on policy makers, armed forces and the wider public remains one of the main objectives to be achieved. Only Austria, Cyprus and Spain (Libya) have ratified it among the Euromed partner countries to-date.
It is evident thus that a greater effort is required to ensure that a more consistent approach in addressing the problem is taken by the international community to prevent today’s contemporary “patrimony of the humanity” from being cancelled from the collective memory by a handful of “anonymous” destructors.
The Workshop
The issue of cultural heritage endangered under uncontrolled armed events has been lately widely debated and some thematic literature was produced on the subject (see annex 1). However, it is evident that this topic debated only in a restricted circuit of a very specialised international community remains little mentioned among political decision makers.
…this is why the Euromed Heritage programme takes a stand by promoting dialogue on topics otherwise rarely debated…
Cases such as that of Cyprus or worse scenarios such as undeclared wars which destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, will be referred to as a common ground for discussion.
The expected results from the workshop are:
- To assess success and failure in cultural heritage protection under the perspective set by the Hague Conventions
- To present study cases for cultural heritage protection in the worse case scenario
in times of armed conflict
- To identify the requirements for the assignment of cultural heritage experts in areas of conflict based on the EC / UN experience
- To promote awareness both locally and internationally on the need for ratification of the 2nd protocol of the Hague Convention
- To help to promote locally the enforcement of the Hague Convention and all the related rules in each country member of the Euromed Heritage network
The results of the Workshop will be widely disseminated especially among the Euromed Heritage broader community to secure follow up at both national and international level
Methodology
The workshop will be articulated in the following phases:
- Plenary sessions
- Three thematic workgroups Chaired by the three ST experts
- Final conclusions by the end of each thematic workgroup
- Workshop conclusion presented and passed through the media
Participants
The workshop will be attended by 25 participants
Participants will be selected among those applicants representing at least each country involved in the EH regional programme. All the ongoing EH project are expected to present at least one highly qualified candidate
Applicants should be recognized members of the EH community professionally engaged in one of the three themes of the workshop
All contributions given to the workshop by the participants (documents, video, photos, etc.) can be published by the EC and / or within the framework the Euromed Heritage programme, free of charged and waived of any copyright by the author.
