Better protection for world cultural heritage

Today, the Senate approved a resolution by the N-VA that must provide greater legal protection for world cultural heritage against destruction by war by bringing civil and military key figures before the International Criminal Court. Sometimes museums and monuments are intentionally destroyed during times of war to eradicate the identity, culture and history of the opponents’ civilization. The aim of the Geneva Convention (1949) and the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague, 1954) was to protect cultural property against destruction without military necessity. Two appended protocols define both the military necessity and the responsibilities of military and civilian authorities. However, these protocols have not yet been universally accepted. With the resolution, the N-VA calls on the government to conduct in its foreign policy a campaign among its foreign partners to ratify or adopt both protocols.