[CPProt.net] UNESCO workshop to focus on protection of cultural property

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

UNESCO workshop to focus on protection of cultural property: 
New Delhi: Indian monuments and sites of cultural heritage which suffer from
callous neglect will be the focus of a four-day UNESCO workshop, beginning
tomorrow, whose other highlight will be the critical issue of illicit
trafficking of cultural property.

September 4, 2005

The thefts of idols of Indian deities and their sale in the Western markets
have been a matter of concern for both the government and intelligence
agencies.

The theme -- 'Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property -- which will
dominate the proceedings, assumes significance in this context as well as
the theft of priceless paintings and artefacts for mercenary gains. 

Political leaders, legal experts and intelligence and cultural officials
will gather at the brainstorming meet to chalk out a blueprint to better
fight the reprehensible phenomenon of illicit trafficking of cultural
objects. 

The conference will be launched by Culture Minister S Jaipal Reddy. The
other eminent Indian personality who will address the gathering is Kapila
Vatsyayan, an internationally-renowned cultural expert. 

Officials from INTERPOL, the CBI and Customs and cultural experts from
Asia-Pacific countries will also attend the regional workshop.

The global media coverage of of the looting of the Baghdad Museum broght
home the fact that it was not just Iraq's heritage that was being pillaged
and stolen but the heritage of the whole world an official said. 

The world conscience was shaken when the Taliban regime in Afghanistan
mercilessly destroyed the tallest statue of Lord Buddha in Bamiyan some
years ago. The pillaging of the precious monuments brought home the need for
strict international conventions and laws to guard and protect these
grandiose specimens of world heritage and history. 

''The global community is appalled at headless statues, niches without the
figures which once adorned them, tombs and burial mounds looted of their
grave goods, villages without religious figures which at one time
represented their spiritual world and churches and palaces stripped off
their most beautiful objects,'' a UNESCO official told UNI.

''A sad reality of today's world is that numerous children grow up without
ever having seen the highest cultural achievements of their own culture,''
the official said, adding that these were some of the sad results of the
illegal trafficking in cultural objects.

The other highlights of the event will be the need for legal protection of
cultural heritage and the status of protection given to cultural property as
well as raising the awareness of relevant Conventions and available
practical measures. 

UNESCO's fight for a secure cultural future has been relentless.

Three multilateral treaties have already been in existence because of its
efforts.

These are: UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the
Illicit, Import and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural property (1970),
UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (1995),
and First Protocol for the Protection of Cultural property in the Event of
Armed Conflict (1954).

The workshop will stress upon UNESCO member-states the need for appropriate
legal protection of cultural heritage and facilitate the ratification of
such conventions by a greater number of countries.

The regional participants are to present a short national report at the
seminar, on the difficulties encountered at the national level in protecting
cultural property from illicit trafficking.

The workshop also intends to send out a strong message to the young
generation to understand what is at stake and become active and committed
defenders of heritage.