Cultural Heritage in War

From NSwiki, the NationStates encyclopedia.
Revision as of 17:43, 15 April 2007 by Mikitivity (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

The Cultural Heritage in War resolution was originally conceived as a replacement to the World Heritage List long before that resolution was repealed. This resolution was the third resolution from the new Education and Creativity category to reach the floor of the United Nations and also the third resolution sponsored by Quintessence of Dust.

History

Draft proposal

Gruenberg originally presented the United Nations with a draft to replace the World Heritage List with a more detailed resolution in July 2006.[1] (The original idea was based on the real life Fourth Hague Convention.) The initial response from UN members was supportive. So much so that the original text of the first draft was overwritten during the extensive deliberations to build a stronger resolution to protect cultural assets.

Resolution text

The United Nations,

Believing that notable articles of cultural heritage constitute a legacy for all people,


Noting the heightened risk to such articles during armed conflict,


Convinced that the preservation of cultural heritage for all is a goal both worthy of and requiring international action and agreement,


Equally not wishing to unduly infringe upon the sovereign territory and right to self-defence of its member nations:


1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, "cultural heritage" as:
- articles of great cultural value, and especially those bearing archaeological, artistic, historical or religious significance;
- areas and buildings primarily used for the storage and display of such items, such as galleries, libraries and museums;
- sites officially recognised as being used solely for archaeological excavation;
- any other articles agreed on by parties to the armed conflict as protected cultural property, or designated as such in international law;


2. Declares that this resolution shall be considered to apply in times of armed conflict, which shall include:
- armed conflict between two or more state parties;
- civil war recognised as such by both internal and external parties;
- armed insurrection or civil disturbance leading to a declaration of a state of emergency;


3. Requires member nations to refrain from, and prevent to the best abilities their forces and the civilian populations of areas under their control from engaging in:
- the deliberate and targeted destruction or damage of cultural heritage, except where such articles are being used for military purposes by opposing forces, or where damage to such articles is unavoidable, or necessary for the preservation of military or civilian life;
- the desecration, vandalism, theft or taking as reparations of cultural heritage;
- the use of sites of cultural heritage for any military purposes, excepting the treatment of casualties;


4. Condemns all acts in contravention of this resolution and calls upon member nations to investigate, try, and where found guilty punish those involved in such acts.

Votes For: 1,372
Votes Against: 640
Voting Ends: Thu Apr 19 2007

Gameplay impacts

Additional materials

Retrieved from "http://archive.nswiki.org/index.php?title=Cultural_Heritage_in_War&oldid=278540"