unesco preservation of heritage sites in armed conflict

Opening the series of meetings of the High Contracting Parties to the Hague Convention, its Protocols and the Committee on 27 November, Mechtild Rössler, Director of the Division for Heritage, UNESCO, recalled that work on these international instruments is not only about protecting heritage. There are currently 128 States Parties to the Hague Convention, 106 to the 1954 Protocol, and 72 to the 1999 Protocol.

It is important for States to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols if they have not already done so,” declared Mr Ket Sophann, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Cambodia, Chairperson of the Committee. “As conflicts continue to rage around the world, expanding this list of sites under enhanced protection is crucial.

Angkor joins twelve other properties in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania and Mali that benefit from high-level immunity and rigorous legal protection ensuring that they cannot be targeted, attacked or used for military purposes. Enhanced protection is a mechanism established by the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (“the 1954 Hague Convention”) aimed at ensuring full and effective protection of specifically designated cultural property during international or non-international armed conflicts.

At the request of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, meeting at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris from 29 to 30 November 2017, granted “enhanced protection” status to Angkor, a cultural World Heritage site.

Unesco preservation of heritage sites in armed conflict