This article has been written by Shikha Jain, a 1st year student of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai.

 

Abstract

The impact of war on cultural heritage is examined in this article, with a particular emphasis on protecting monuments, archives, and museums. Diverse values found in cultural heritage are purposefully destroyed in conflicts in order to achieve different goals. Intentional cultural destruction as a tactic of warfare is demonstrated by historical and contemporary examples. Threats include cultural cleansing, looting, neglect, and direct and collateral damage. Cultural heritage degradation affects human diversity, identity, and cohesiveness on a national and international level. Monuments, archives, and museums stand out as essential stewards that preserve knowledge and promote a sense of place in history. The article examines current legislation, most notably the 1954 Hague Convention, but it also draws attention to its poor execution and enforcement. The urgent need to strengthen international efforts to protect cultural heritage during armed conflict is emphasised in the article’s conclusion.

 

Key Words

Cultural heritage, War, Intangible cultural heritage, 1954 Hague Convention, International Law

 

Objectives

1. Examine How War Affects Cultural Heritage: Examine and evaluate the various ways that war affects cultural heritage, paying particular attention to the intentional destruction of monuments, archives, and museums during hostilities.
2. Highlight Threats to Cultural Heritage during Conflict: Using both historical and modern examples, identify and describe the different threats that cultural heritage faces during times of war, such as direct destruction, collateral damage, looting, neglect, and cultural cleansing.
3. Emphasise the Importance of Safeguarding Cultural Heritage: Highlight the vital role that monuments, archives, and museums play in serving as guardians of cultural heritage. Stress the importance of these institutions in preserving knowledge, establishing ties between generations, and promoting a sense of identity.
4. Evaluate Existing Laws and Regulations: Analyse how well international legal frameworks—in particular, the 1954 Hague Convention—protect cultural heritage in times of armed conflict, keeping a close eye out for any shortcomings in their implementation, enforcement, or clarity.
5. Advocate for Increased International Cooperation and Efforts: Make recommendations for strengthening enforcement mechanisms, addressing legal flaws, and promoting international cooperation in order to preserve our common human history. Advocate for increased international collaboration and efforts to improve the protection of cultural heritage during war.

 

Introduction

Maintaining cultural heritage is a delicate but vital endeavour in the turbulent terrain of armed conflict. With a particular emphasis on the preservation of monuments, archives, and museums, this article explores the complex relationship between war and cultural heritage. The values of cultural heritage, which includes both tangible and intangible components, range from the symbolic and historic to the artistic and scientific. Despite its importance, cultural heritage is frequently targeted intentionally during times of conflict, undermining societies’ identities and histories and having a significant effect on collective memory. This investigation delves into the deliberate destruction used as a tactic in war by looking at both historical and contemporary examples. These incidents highlight the purposeful use of cultural destruction to accomplish a variety of goals, from the Nazi regime’s intentional destruction during World War II to the deliberate targeting of the ancient Indian university Nalanda. A careful analysis is done of the dangers that conflict poses to cultural heritage, including direct destruction, collateral damage, looting, neglect, and cultural cleansing. The discourse expounds upon the significance of preserving cultural heritage, underscoring the indispensable function of museums, archives, and monuments as stewards of the essence of heterogeneous cultures. The paper critically assesses the shortcomings in the application, enforcement, and ambiguities of the current legal frameworks, most notably the 1954 Hague Convention. In light of this, the article lays out goals for bolstering global initiatives to preserve cultural heritage, suggesting solutions to current problems and encouraging a shared resolve to preserve our common history as humans.

 

What is “Cultural Heritage”?

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics says that “Cultural heritage includes artefacts, monuments, a group of buildings and sites, museums that have a diversity of values including symbolic, historic, artistic, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological, scientific and social significance. It includes tangible heritage (movable, immobile and underwater), intangible cultural heritage (ICH) embedded into cultural, and natural heritage artefacts, sites or monuments. The definition excludes ICH related to other cultural domains such as festivals, celebration etc. It covers industrial heritage and cave paintings”.

 

Why is Cultural Heritage deliberately destroyed during times of conflict?

In times of conflict and transition, the intentional destruction of cultural heritage is frequently employed as a tactic to accomplish various goals. This involves destroying a society’s identity and past, frightening and intimidating the populace, and eroding the enemy’s morale. Such devastation has a profound effect because it obliterates a society’s collective memory and identity, depriving subsequent generations of their cultural legacy. The hostilities in Ethiopia, Mali, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Somalia, and Daesh’s atrocities, which destroyed mosques, churches, and other places of worship, severing ties to earlier generations, are recent instances of the destruction of cultural heritage.

 

One historical instance of cultural heritage being deliberately targeted to eradicate the cultural and intellectual identity of a society is the destruction of the ancient Nalanda University in India by Muslim invaders in the 12th century. Comparably, in order to establish power and authority over occupied areas, the Nazi regime deliberately targeted cultural heritage during World War II, destroying monuments and artwork, among other things.

 

These instances show how deliberate cultural heritage destruction has been employed as a weapon of war, erasing collective memory and identity and causing the loss of priceless historical and cultural significance.

 

Threats to Cultural Heritage during conflicts

War poses many risks to cultural heritage and can have profound effects on society. Among the most significant dangers are:

1. Direct destruction: During a conflict, cultural sites, monuments, and artefacts are deliberately targeted and destroyed. Examples include Daesh’s destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Taliban’s 2001 destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. 
2. Collateral damage: During military operations, such as the bombing of cultural sites during World War II, cultural heritage may inadvertently be damaged or destroyed.
3. Looting and theft: During times of conflict, cultural artefacts and objects may be taken or looted, usually with the intention of selling them on the black market or for financial gain. The loss of priceless historical and cultural significance may come from this.
4. Neglect and abandonment: Following a conflict, cultural sites and artefacts may be overlooked or left unattended, which can cause them to deteriorate and eventually disappear. 
5. Cultural cleansing: Purposefully destroying cultural assets can be a means of erasing a society’s identity and past, frightening and intimidating the people, and compromising the enemy’s morale.

 

Why is it important to protect Cultural Heritage?

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots” – Marcus Garvey

 

Cultural heritage needs to be protected for several reasons that have an impact on the country as well as the world. At its most basic, cultural heritage is a community or society’s collective identity, history, and values. A substantial portion of our common human history is lost when cultural heritage is lost, which has far-reaching effects.

Loss of national identity and cohesiveness can result from the degradation of cultural heritage nationally. It becomes difficult for current and future generations to feel connected to their roots when the distinctive traditions, customs, and artistic expressions that define a nation are endangered. In addition to affecting a person’s sense of belonging, this loss may also weaken the fabric of the country and cause social division.

 

On a global level, the loss of cultural heritage denotes a narrowing of the vast web of human variation. Every culture offers the world community new insights, ideas, and understanding. Any cultural component that is lost reduces the overall diversity and richness of human civilization, making it more difficult for us to learn from other cultures and less likely for cross-cultural communication and understanding.

 

Communities that lose their cultural heritage frequently feel profoundly disconnected and disoriented on a social and psychological level. Feelings of cultural loss and bereavement can arise from the removal of ancestor customs and landmarks. This may give rise to a crisis of collective identity that affects the mental health of those living in these communities and erodes social cohesiveness.

 

Erasure of history and identity is also facilitated by the destruction of cultural heritage. Cultural landmarks, artefacts, and sites provide us with concrete connections to the past that help us comprehend and draw lessons from our common past. A large portion of the historical record is lost when these are destroyed or ignored, making it challenging for future generations to understand their origins and recognise how societies have changed over time.

 

Monuments, archives, and museums are essential for preserving cultural heritage. They act as knowledge repositories, keeping intact artefacts, records, and monuments that capture the spirit of many cultures. In particular, museums are essential for educating the public because they offer a real-world, immersive experience with history and culture. They promote a sense of continuity and ties to the past by aiding in the transfer of knowledge between generations. These organisations are essential in preserving a sense of communal memory and fostering a greater comprehension of our common human heritage because they act as guardians of cultural heritage.

 

Laws and Regulations protecting Cultural Heritage

Each nation and region has its own set of laws and rules protecting cultural heritage. One of the most important international agreements for preserving cultural heritage in times of war is the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The convention mandates that states take action to protect cultural heritage during armed conflict and sets guidelines for the preservation of cultural property, such as structures, monuments, and artistic creations.

 

Many nations have their own laws and regulations to protect cultural heritage in addition to international agreements. Archaeological excavations and the export of cultural property may be governed by these laws, which may also include provisions for the preservation of artefacts and historic buildings. In the United States, for instance, there is the Archaeological Resources Protection Act that governs the removal and excavation of archaeological resources from federal lands and the National Historic Preservation Act that identifies and protects historic properties.

 

The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its implementing protocols are the main focus of international laws and regulations designed to protect cultural heritage from the destructive effects of armed conflict. During times of war, these legal frameworks set important guidelines for the protection of cultural property, both immovable and movable. The convention forbids the use of cultural sites for military purposes, emphasises the need of taking preventative measures to avoid damage, and denounces the theft or looting of cultural artefacts.

 

The 1954 Convention’s provisions are updated and strengthened by the 1999 Second Protocol, which also introduces more detailed guidelines for enforcement and implementation.

 

The 1954 Hague Convention has been used by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in its prosecution of war crimes, including the demolition of sacred and cultural sites during the 1990s Balkan conflicts.

 

The following are the key provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention:

1. Respect for Cultural Property: Parties to the conflict are obliged by the convention to take all reasonable measures to prevent damage to cultural property and to forbid its use for military purposes.
2. Protection Measures: The convention specifies actions that must be taken in order to safeguard cultural property during armed conflict. These actions include designating cultural sites with a unique emblem and arranging for the transportation of the moveable cultural property to a secure area.
3. Prohibition of Theft and Plunder: Any type of misappropriation or theft of cultural property is forbidden by the convention.
4. Special Protection for Museums and Archives: By forbidding their use for military objectives, the convention provides museums, galleries, and archives with extra protection.
5. Post-Conflict Recovery: After hostilities end, the convention places emphasis on the duty to return cultural property that was taken during an armed conflict to its country of origin.

 

These laws do, however, have some shortcomings, such as poor resource allocation, insufficient enforcement, and inadequate protection for intangible cultural heritage. Laws pertaining to cultural heritage occasionally disregard customary rights and traditional guidelines, which causes tensions between the local community and the government. Moreover, laws and regulations might not be enough to stop deliberate targeting and destruction of cultural sites and artefacts, since war is frequently the cause of cultural heritage destruction.

 

These are some flaws with the 1954 Hague Convention, despite the fact that it and its protocols are important steps in safeguarding cultural heritage during armed conflict:

1. Enforcement and Accountability: When there are infractions, there is frequently a dearth of both. Cultural heritage destruction perpetrators might escape punishment because it is difficult to investigate and prosecute them.
2. Inadequate Implementation: It’s possible that some nations haven’t put in place the domestic laws required to properly enforce the convention’s provisions.
3. Loopholes and Ambiguities: There may be room for interpretation regarding the convention’s definitions and definitions of cultural property, which could cause problems with how it is applied.
4. Difficulties in Conflict Zones: It can be very difficult to enforce these laws during armed conflicts, and safety precautions might not be taken.

 

How can these laws be strengthened?

A multifaceted approach is required to strengthen laws pertaining to the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflict. To reduce ambiguities in interpretation and improve the overall protection, it is imperative that definitions within current legal frameworks be expanded to include both tangible and intangible elements. The strengthening of enforcement mechanisms ought to involve the implementation of efficient monitoring systems, prompt disciplinary actions for infractions, and the establishment of global organisations responsible for supervising adherence to regulations. Improving international cooperation is crucial for sharing knowledge, skills, and resources between states, international organisations, and cultural heritage institutions. Moreover, it is imperative to increase consciousness and impart knowledge to diverse stakeholders, such as military personnel, policymakers, and the general public, in order to foster a sense of accountability and admiration for cultural heritage. Priority should be given to the creation and execution of thorough emergency response plans, which should include relocation and emergency conservation measures, for cultural heritage sites located in conflict areas. Furthermore, assisting local communities and including them in decision-making procedures guarantees that protective measures correspond with their priorities and values. For conservation efforts, training programmes, and emergency response initiatives, there must be sufficient funding, including international partnerships and mechanisms. Further strengthening these laws involves incorporating cultural heritage protection into larger peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives and utilising technological advancements for remote monitoring and assessment. Finally, for cultural heritage to be effectively protected during armed conflicts, legal frameworks must be updated and expanded to address new issues and modern forms of warfare, like cyber threats.

 

Conclusion

In summary, the complex web of human civilization, made up of various cultural strands, is exposed to hitherto unseen dangers in the fires of armed conflict. As explored in this article, the intentional targeting and destruction of cultural heritage leaves deep wounds on the identity, history, and memory of societies, as well as undermining the tangible and intangible aspects of our shared human story. The deliberate use of cultural destruction as a weapon of war is still a sobering reality, as evidenced by historical examples like the deliberate destruction of Nalanda University and by modern atrocities carried out in conflicts across the globe. The numerous dangers, which range from outright devastation to cultural erasure, highlight how urgent it is to protect our shared history. Monuments, archives, and museums become essential defenders, maintaining knowledge and promoting links to the past. Although the 1954 Hague Convention and other established legal frameworks offer a basis for protection, shortcomings in their application and enforcement necessitate consideration. A concerted effort involving improved enforcement mechanisms, increased awareness, improved international cooperation, and clearer definitions is necessary to strengthen these laws. Cultural heritage protection is not just a legal requirement; it is also a shared responsibility to maintain the diversity of humankind and the continuity of our shared history. Let our dedication to preserving cultural heritage serve as a symbol of our common humanity as we face the difficulties brought on by armed conflict, guaranteeing that coming generations will inherit a world enhanced by the remnants of the past.

 

References

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics
2. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/targeting-culture-the-destruction-of-cultural-heritage-in-conflict/
3. https://www.getty.edu/publications/cultural-heritage-mass-atrocities/part-4/21-gerstenblith/
4. https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/7dd2f201-0540-440e-90ba-7ee59f44f697/content
5. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137293565_18
6. https://www.ilsa.org/Jessup/Jessup17/Batch%201/28YaleJIntlL183.pdf
7. 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
8. 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention
9. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
10. International Criminal Court (ICC)