Official Press Release of 15th International Congress on Archives,
30/08/2004

The city of Vienna was the backdrop for the 15th Congress of the
International Council on Archives (ICA) from 23-28 August 2004. 2000
delegates from 116 countries joined together to discuss how to preserve
the world’s documentary heritage.

During the Congress the ICA hotly debated the destruction that both
man-made and natural disasters have wrought on the world’s archival
heritage. War, flood and looting are just some of the means by which
archives have been destroyed and with them the identity of individuals
and nations, the cultural life of communities and the core elements of
democratic accountability. So, at the Congress, the ICA has taken
measures to counteract these destructive forces including urging
governments that have not already done so to sign up to the 1954 Hague
Convention on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Event of Armed
Conflict. It has also urged the United Nations and other international
organizations to include protection of vital records in their
humanitarian and peace operations.

The computer is now a bedrock of modern life. Caring in the long-term
for the multiplicity of records produced by computer is an enormous and
complicated task. Can you find an email you sent 5 years ago? Probably
not. Just imagine the task of the archivist who has to archive all the
electronic records of a large organization. It’s a vital but challenging
task. But for some countries this task is made even more difficult due
to very restricted resources. At the Congress the ICA called on
governments at the next World Summit on the Information Society to
demand a reduction in access costs to the Internet for less developed
countries and to permit national archive services to connect to the
Internet, which will contribute to reducing the digital divide between
countries.

Destruction can also be self-conscious. Archives play a pivotal role
providing irrefutable evidence of human rights violations and empower
victims to bring perpetrators to justice. Archives are also the memory
of such violations so that the world can find out what really happened
and individuals can remember. Archives are fundamental to ensuring the
survival of truth, memory and justice. The archives of public bodies and
non-governmental organizations that document violations of human rights
can face serious threats to their survival, both through intentional
destruction and lack of resources and knowledge. ICA called on the UN to
take action to safeguard these archives, and thus enable victims and
societies to exercise their rights.

But ICA is not purely concerned with the threats to the world’s
documentary heritage. It also celebrates humankind’s success. Thus, in
this Olympic week it was fitting that ICA called on the Olympic
Committee to support ICA projects intended to safeguard and promote
archives of sport and of the Olympic movement.

ICA has had a very successful Conference in Vienna. It was honoured to
be addressed by the Federal President at the opening ceremony.
Furthermore, throughout the Congress highly respected speakers gave
keynote speeches including Hans Tuppy, the internationally renowned
biochemist, Ferdinand Lacina, the dynamic leader of the Austrian League
for Human Rights, Gerhard Roth, the prize-winning novelist and Ivan
Ivanji, concentration camp survivor and internationally renowned
journalist and author. All the delegates have greatly enjoyed Austrian
culture and hospitality and ICA looks forward to returning to the
historic city of Vienna in the future.

Notes for Editors
* The International Council on Archives is the professional organization
for the world archival community, dedicated to promoting the
preservation, development and use of the world’s archival heritage.
* It brings together national archive administrations, professional
associations of archivists, regional and local archives and archives of
other organizations as well as individual archivists.
* ICA has some 1700 members in over 190 countries and territories,
making it truly international.
* It is a non-governmental organization, which means that it maintains
independence from the political process and that its members include
public and private archive institutions and individuals.
* ICA works closely with inter-governmental organizations such as UNESCO
and the Council of Europe. It also has strong links with other
non-governmental organizations.
For further information about ICA resolutions visit the ICA website at

link : www.ica.org

ICA Wien 2004 - www.wien2004.ica.org

For further information, contact:
Joan Van Albada, Secretary General: [log in to unmask]
Lorenz Mikoletzky, President and Congress Host:
[log in to unmask]

***

International Council on Archives (ICA)
Conseil international des archives (CIA)
60 rue des Francs Bourgeois
F-75003 Paris - France
T: +33 (0)1 40 27 61 37
F: +33 (0)1 42 72 20 65
E: [log in to unmask]
I: www.ica.org

ICA Wien 2004 - www.wien2004.ica.org
Archives, Memory and Knowledge / Archives, mémoires et savoirs