DIRECTOR-GENERAL WELCOMES TRIBUNAL’S INDICTMENT ON DESTRUCTION OF HERITAGE IN DUBROVNIK

Paris, March 13 (No.2001-40) - UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has welcomed the fact that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia included the destruction of historic monuments in its 16-count indictment of February 22 relating to the 1991 attacks on the ancient port city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Mr Matsuura said: “This sets a historic precedent as it is the first time since the judgements of the Nürnberg and Tokyo tribunals that a crime against cultural property has been sanctioned by an international tribunal. This indictment concerns a breach of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, a global agreement on the protection of cultural heritage during hostilities, which is administered by UNESCO. It shows that the international community will not sit idly by and condone crimes against cultural property.”

Throughout the hostilities in the former Yugoslavia, UNESCO exhorted the warring parties to respect the Hague Convention. UNESCO observers were present in Dubrovnik during the military operations in November and December 1991 and alerted the Director-General to the shelling of the Old City. The Director-General immediately urged the Yugoslav Federal Minister of Defence to stop the shelling and it ceased soon afterwards.

UNESCO also contributed to the restoration of Dubrovnik, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979, by drawing up a special plan of action and supplying emergency assistance.

Mr Matsuura drew a parallel between the attacks on Dubrovnik and the action by the Taliban to destroy Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage: “This important precedent shows the international community can take action to protect cultural property and apply sanctions for its protection.”

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