Why the Blue Shield is needed
Although the terrible destruction of cultural property in the first half of the twentieth century led to an international convention designed to promote its protection (the 1954 Hague Convention), it wasn’t until 1996 that the Blue Shield was founded. Today, the Blue Shield are often asked why – in the face of the devastating loss of life and wider destruction seen during conflict and environmental disasters – there is a need for an organisation like us, when other concerns may seem so much more pressing.
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“The Islamic State specifically and systematically targeted the culture, identity and heritage of Iraqi Yazidis. Not just murdered, Yazidis were enslaved, forced into sexual servitude, brainwashed and/or forcibly converted to Islam. Historic sites and holy places were destroyed.”
Report: Destroying the Soul of the Yazidis. Cultural Heritage Destruction During the Islamic State’s Genocide Against the Yazidis (CC BY 4.0) The Blue Shield believes that people and their cultural heritage are indivisible: loss of cultural identity can be a key factor in exacerbating distress. Heritage is not more important than people, it is part of them. |
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Records of the destruction of cultural heritage in armed conflict and disasters go back for thousands of years. The numbers of sites damaged or destroyed during armed conflicts in the last decade number in the thousands, and increasing numbers of environmental disasters have led to damage and loss to heritage across the globe. There is increasing evidence of the devastating effects such destruction can have on both communities and individuals, supporting extensive research about why cultural heritage is important. This was clearly acknowledged by the ICC in its 2016 sentencing of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi for the destruction of religious and historic buildings in Mali. In addition to a 9-year prison sentence, the court found him liable for 2.7 million euros of individual and collective reparations for the community of Timbuktu as recompense for the loss.
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Theft and looting of cultural property are ongoing problems, which are worsened during the decrease in stability during conflicts and disasters. Looting can devastate archaeological sites, and hinders the staff trying to protect them, as it is often just one part of widespread property looting and the theft of institutional infrastructure. In Iraq in 2003, for example, alongside the widely reported looting of thousands of objects, even the National Museum’s air conditioning units were taken, as these had been prohibited for years under economic sanctions, as well as the computers, desks, filing systems, and other infrastructure. While some of this material is used locally, stolen artefacts are frequently illicitly trafficked across numerous country borders, often funding organised crime and the purchase of weapons, with only a small portion of the money going to those who carried out the looting.
BSUK is working with law enforcement to counter trafficking of cultural objects, and provide expert advice and guidance. |
The Art Loss Register (ALR) recovered a large 18th century Pastoral Tapestry by the famous French manufacturer Aubusson, which was stolen from a Château in France in 1982. The Château is classified as a historic monument and the tapestry, which was hanging in its Salon, formed part of the protected interior décor. The theft was publicised by the French National police and the French Ministry of Culture and recorded on the ALR’s database. In February 2014, 32 years after the theft, the ALR spotted the tapestry being offered for sale in London, and assisted in its return.
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In addition to the loss of physical cultural heritage, like buildings and archives, the intangible cultural heritage of communities is also easily destroyed during times of conflict and disaster. Communities can no longer meet to conduct traditional activities, and they may become widely scattered refugee groups, or the places where rituals and traditions were carried out may have been destroyed. In Syria, traditional methods of hand-weaving silk that once made Damascene silk famous on the Silk Road are under threat as much of the silk crop was destroyed in the fighting, the factories were badly damaged, and those who had the skill fled. Other losses to Syria’s intangible heritage include Sufi singing, and the 3rd century Christian Urfalee chants, feared lost in the fighting in Aleppo (according to The Guardian). Even food, another essential part of the culture of many people, is changing for those affected by conflict: traditional methods of cooking were passed from mother to daughter. Now, for the thousands of displaced Syrians, items like meat are a luxury (according to Newsweek), and whilst key organisations like the World Food Programme try their best to make sure people don’t starve, nutritional isn’t the same as traditional. Examples like these represent only a tiny handful of the wide variety of intangible cultural heritage practices across the globe – UNESCO maintains a List of intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of safeguarding on their website - and each conflict or disaster puts more elements of intangible heritage at risk, alongside the more obvious loss of physical places and structures.
Founded in accordance with the international laws designed to prevent the widespread cultural property destruction seen during World War II, today the Blue Shield network strives to prevent or mitigate damage to all types of heritage in crisis, conflict, and disaster. We work in partnership with national armed forces and international coalitions, as well as national governments, inter-governmental agencies, heritage organisations, disaster risk reduction teams, and other NGOs - and of course the affected communities themselves, who are at the heart of our work - to manage the risks to cultural heritage in the event crisis, and to assist those working in the field to protect cultural property in emergency situations.
Learn more about the laws preventing looting and illicit trafficking in the Law Library of the BSI website.
Visit the website Targeting History and Memory, which examines the ICTY and the investigation, reconstruction and prosecution of the crimes against cultural and religious heritage during the conflict in the Balkans.
Visit the website Targeting History and Memory, which examines the ICTY and the investigation, reconstruction and prosecution of the crimes against cultural and religious heritage during the conflict in the Balkans.