British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
FIGHTING A LOOTING BATTLE?
UK MUST LEARN FROM IRAQ CULTURE CRISIS
The UK Government’s failure to provide for the protection of important cultural heritage in Iraq contributed to the breakdown of social order, and alienation of much of the Iraqi population according to evidence given to the Chilcot Inquiry this week.
In an unprecedented move, the British Academy in partnership with thirteen major cultural organisations* has submitted written evidence to the Inquiry outlining the shortcomings in the UK’s planning and implementation to protect Iraq’s cultural property during the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation.
The major destruction and looting of Iraq’s museums, archaeological sites and ancient artefacts was well documented, but the submission goes on to consider the specific ways in which this mattered, urging the need for action to prevent repetition.
The submission highlights five main failures and lessons in the planning and implementation of the Coalition forces’ invasion and subsequent occupation:
• The limited scope and ineffectiveness of the pre-invasion planning, and in particular the failure to plan adequately for protection of cultural property in the occupation phase, despite the vociferous concerns of many national and international heritage bodies
• The increasingly clear picture now available of the scale of the looting and damage to sites, museums, libraries and archives, and of the failure of Coalition forces to protect such sites
• The evidence that failure to protect the Iraqi people’s heritage resulted in serious problems in the attempt to win “hearts and minds”, making the job of reconstructing Iraq much harder
• The evidence that some of the proceeds of the illicit trade in antiquities have been used to fund the insurgency
• The contrast between the UK Government’s relatively rapid action to legislate on dealing in illicit antiquities and its ongoing failure to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention or put in place all the procedures and training needed to make it work
The Government is being urged to take immediate action to ensure that such a cultural catastrophe cannot happen again. This should include ratifying as a matter of urgency the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999. The UK is now the most significant military power not to have ratified this convention.
Sir Adam Roberts, President of the British Academy, said:
“It is unusual for so many organisations concerned with the protection of cultural heritage to join together in a submission to an official enquiry, but the circumstances are extraordinary. In 2003, the UK government issued statements recognising the need to protect Iraq’s cultural property. These statements were apparently not followed up.
“It is embarrassing that the UK is the only major military power which has not ratified the main treaty on this matter. After 55 years it’s high time we did.”
-ENDS-
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EDITOR’S NOTES
*The evidence was jointly submitted by the UK National Commission for UNESCO, British Academy, British Institute for the Study of Iraq, Council for British Archaeology, European Association of Archaeologists, Institute for Archaeologists, International Council on Monuments and Sites UK, International Council of Museums UK, Museums Association, National Trust, Nautical Archaeology Society, Society of Antiquaries of London and the UK & Ireland Committee of the Blue Shield.
• The full text of the evidence may be found here
• Some of the major instances of looting of cultural property in Iraq include the ransacking of the National Museum in Baghdad in April 2003, the National Library and Archive and all provincial museums. The National Library lost about 500 000 printed books and serials, including 5000 rare books.
• The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted at The Hague (Netherlands) in 1954 in the wake of massive destruction of cultural heritage during the Second World War and is the first international treaty focusing exclusively on the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict.
• The Convention covers immovable and movable cultural heritage, including monuments of architecture, art or history, archaeological sites, works of art, manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest, as well as scientific collections of all kinds regardless of their origin or ownership. The UK has not ratified the Convention nor either of its two Protocols. In December 2008, the UK National Commission voiced its concern when the Heritage Protection Bill, which would have allowed the UK to ratify the Convention and its two Protocols, was omitted from the Queen’s Speech.
• The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, is the national body that champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally. For more information, please visit www.britac.ac.uk