Terrorbevægelsen Islamisk Stats systematiske ødelæggelse af muslimske, kristne og jødiske mindesmærker i Irak får UNESCOs leder til at tale om krigsforbrydelser og hun har kontaktet Den Internationale Straffedomstol i Haag.
PARIS. 27 February 2015 (UN News Service): The head of the United Nations agency mandated to protect world heritage sites said Friday, that she is “deeply shocked” by the footage (vidoen) depicting the destruction of statues and other artefacts (kunstgenstande) at the Mosul Museum in Northern Iraq and she expressed her dismay at the “destructive fury” exhibited by militants of the Islamic State.
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General, Irina Bokova, condemned the devastation of artefacts and bas-reliefs, including large statues from the UNESCO world Heritage site of Hatra, by ISIL calling it a “deliberate attack against Iraq’s millennial history and culture”.
“This tragedy is far from just a cultural issue: it is an issue of major security,” she declared. “We see clearly how terrorists use the destruction of heritage in their strategy to destabilize and manipulate populations so that they can assure their own domination.”
Large statues from the UNESCO world Heritage site of Hatra, as well as unique artefacts from the archaeological sites of the governorate of Ninewah have been destroyed or defaced in the Mosul Museum, among many other pieces.
ISIL extremists have reportedly engaged in “cultural cleansing” across Iraq and other territories occupied by the group, including the destruction of religious heritage belonging to Muslim, Christian and Jewish sects alike.
At the same time, they also participate in the illicit traffic of artefacts in order to help fund their terrorist acts.
Ms. Bokova has urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council to meet on ISIL’s rampant destruction of cultural heritage.
“This attack is far more than a cultural tragedy – this is also a security issue as it fuels sectarianism, violent extremism and conflict in Iraq,” Ms. Bokova said.
She warned that the “deliberate destruction” of cultural heritage is a war crime according to the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC = internationale Straffedomstol i Haag).
She added that she had already contacted ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda “to attract her attention to the attacks on the Mosul Museum and encourage her to open a case.”
She emphasized that the attack was in direct violation to the most recent Security Council resolution 2199 that condemns the destruction of cultural heritage and adopts legally-binding measures to counter illicit trafficking of antiquities and cultural objects from Iraq and Syria.
Se også telegrammet
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/26-02-15/islamisk-stat-smadrer-uerstattelige-statuer-fra-ol
Og
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50190#.VPEZwWV1T4s
