List members will be interested in the following statement, agreed by the
four Non-governmental organisations involved in the International Committee
of the Blue Shield:
Can I also confirm that the Hague Convention(s) apply to all culural
heritage property, whether library, archive or museum collections, or
historic sites.
Regards,
George MacKenzie
George P MacKenzie
Deputy Secretary General / Secrétaire Général Adjoint
Conseil International des Archives / International Council on Archives
National Archives of Scotland
Thomas Thomson House
99 Bankhead Crossway North
Edinburgh EH11 4DX
United Kingdom / Royaume Uni
Tel: +44 131 535 1382 or 1313 (voicemail)
Fax: +44 131 535 1390
<[log in to unmask]>
ICBS
International Committee of the Blue Shield
Comité international du Bouclier
19.04.99
Appeal for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage in Yugoslavia
The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) urges all parties in
the present conflict in the Balkans to comply with the international
treaties relating to armed conflicts, especially the 1954 Hague Convention
for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and
its new Second Protocol, agreed by 84 countries and two organisations
(ICBS, ICRC1) in The Hague on 26 March 1999.
Attention has been paid to the human suffering: civilians have been killed
or wounded and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave
their homes and become refugees. The International Committee of the Blue
Shield expresses its sincere sympathy for all those who suffer under this
violence.
Cultural heritage constitutes a fundamental part of the identity and
dignity of peoples and is always a victim during armed conflicts. The ICBS
expresses its serious concern about all damage to the cultural heritage of
the peoples of Yugoslavia resulting from military action or other deeds of
violence by all sides in the conflict.
The ICBS therefore calls upon all parties in the conflict to do everything
within their power to protect museums, archives, libraries, monuments and
all other sites that are expressions of the history and the right of
existence of the peoples in this region.
The mission of the ICBS, which has taken up the emblem of The Hague
Convention of the 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event
of Armed Conflict, is to collect and disseminate information, and to
co-ordinate action in emergency situations affecting cultural heritage,
such as armed conflicts or natural disasters.
The ICBS was founded in 1996 by four non-governmental organisations:
ICA: International Council on Archives
ICOM: International Council of Museums
ICOMOS: International Council on Monuments and Sites
IFLA: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
ICA
http://www.archives.ca/ICA/
Tel. 33 (0)1 40 27 63 06
Fax 33 (0)1 42 72 20 65
ICOM
http://www.icom.org
Tel. 33 (0)1 47 34 05 00
Fax 33 (0)1 43 06 78 62
ICOMOS
http://www.international.
icomos.org
Tel. 33 (0)1 45 67 67 70
Fax 33 (0)1 45 66 06 22
IFLA
http://www.ifla.org
Tel. (31 70) 31 81 884
Fax (31 70) 38 34 827
or c/o M.T. Varlamoff
Tel. 33 (0) 1 47 03 87 26
Fax 33 (0) 1 47 03 77 25
1 International Committee of the Red Cross
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|