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[18.04.2001] -
UNHCHR - COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS ADOPTS RESOLUTIONS ON SITUATIONS IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE,
AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, MYANMAR AND CUBA
...On the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, the Commission adopted a
resolution without a vote in which it strongly condemned the mass killings and
systematic human rights violations against civilians and persons deprived of
their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict and noted with alarm the
resumption by the Taliban of a wider conflict during the past summer, resulting
in the massive forced displacement of the civilian population Continue
[27.03.2001] -UNESCO
TO CONTINUE MOBILIZATION IN FAVOUR OF AFGHANISTAN UNESCO is determined to pursue the mobilization in favour of Afghanistan’s
heritage, despite the destruction of the Buddha statues of Bamiyan by the
Taliban, focusing its future action on the safeguarding of Afghanistan’s
remaining Islamic and pre-Islamic heritage, maintaining dialogue, pursuing
discussions of a religious nature favourable to heritage protection and working
to develop legal standards pertaining to the concept of cultural crime. Continue
[12.03.2001] - DIRECTOR-GENERAL
CONDEMNS TALIBAN'S CRIME AGAINST CULTURE UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura has condemned the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan -
which has been confirmed by his Special Envoy, Pierre Lafrance - and described
it as a “crime against culture”. Continue
[11.03.2001]
- DELEGATION OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL LEADERS ARRIVES IN
AFGHANISTAN UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura yesterday conveyed a letter,
through his special envoy in Afghanistan Pierre Lafrance, to Mullah Omar
demanding that he suspend his edict to destroy pre-Islamic Afghan statues until
the arrival of an important religious delegation. Continue
[09.03.2001]
-UNESCO PURSUES
EFFORTS FOR AFGHANISTAN UNESCO has not received any
confirmation of the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura continues his efforts to mobilize political and religious leaders to
protect the heritage of Afghanistan. Continue
[05.03.2001] - “ALL
DOORS ARE NOT CLOSED” ACCORDING TO UNESCO SPECIAL ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN Pierre Lafrance, UNESCO’s special envoy to Afghanistan, has left
Kandahar, the main residence of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, for
Islamabad (Pakistan), but will return to Afghanistan after the Id al-Adha
holiday. After talks with, among others, the Taliban Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Mullah Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, Mr Lafrance indicated that there was
still hope that the Buddha statues at Bamiyan might be saved. Continue
[02.03.2001] -UNESCO
ENVOY SENT TO AFGHANISTAN UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has sent a special envoy to
Afghanistan to deliver a message to the Taliban authorities, urging them to
reverse their decision to destroy the ancient statues of Afghanistan’s
cultural heritage. Continue
[28.02.2001] - DIRECTOR-GENERAL
EXHORTS AFGHANS TO PREVENT DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HERITAGE Back in Paris from an official visit, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura today described the decision to destroy all the statues of Afghanistan
as “a real cultural disaster” and strongly urged the Afghan people to take
action to prevent the destruction of this heritage which is valuable to all. Continue
[27.02.2001] -UNESCO
APPEALS FOR THE SAFEGUARD OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF AFGHANISTAN UNESCO is appealing for the preservation of cultural heritage landmarks in
Afghanistan following press reports of the deliberate destruction by the Taliban
of over a dozen ancient statues in the Afghan National Museum in Kabul and of an
order by the supreme Taliban leader to destroy all statues in Afghanistan which,
as human representations, the Taliban view as non-Islamic. Continue
APPEAL
BY ICOMOS AND ICOM ICOMOS (International Council on
Monuments and Sites) and ICOM (International Council of Museums) learned
with great shock of the new decree issued by the Taliban leadership of
Mullah Mohammad Omar ordering the systematic destruction of all statues in
the country. This decision breaks the commitment made by the Taliban
leadership in 1999 to protect all cultural heritage in Afghanistan and in
particular the giant Buddha figures at Bamiyan. MoreEn Français
STATEMENT
FROM THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF AFGHANISTAN'S CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESS RELEASE, 27 February 2001 -
"Mullah Omar's latest instruction to destroy pre-Islamic statues in
Afghanistan is unacceptable and must be reversed immediately", said
the Chairman of the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural
Heritage (SPACH). More
APPEL
DE PATRIMOINE SANS FRONTIERES
La protestation face à l'annonce, suivie désormais du passage à
l'acte, de la destruction du patrimoine non musulman d'Afghanistan, sur
ordre des Talibans, ne peut être laissée entre les mains de la seule
diplomatie, serait-elle conduite par l'Unesco, organisme lui-même ligoté
par les lois internationales dont il est issu. More
UNESCO
Director-General Today Condemns Taliban Actions in
Address to Cultural Heritage Colloquium
(02-03-01) “Events in
Afghanistan today are the consequence of a blind logic that runs counter
to all the basic principles of respect, tolerance and wisdom in which
Islam, perhaps more than any other religion, prides itself.” More
