UNESCO

54
Iraq and Syria
Throughout 2015, cultural heritage
sites in Iraq and Syria, including many
religious places, were intentionally
destroyed as a means of systematically
persecuting and discriminating against
individuals and groups based on their
cultural and religious background, in
violation of their human rights. UNESCO
worked continuously to prevent and
mitigate this destruction of the world’s
cultural heritage, while condemning it as
a war crime.
Iraq is home to one of the oldest
civilizations in the world, with a
cultural history spanning over 10,000
years, earning it the title of ‘Cradle of
Civilization‘. In the Mosul Museum,
as well as the archaeological sites of
Hatra and Nineveh, extremists violently
smashed many statues and bas-reliefs.
Destruction at the archaeological sites of
Nimrud and Khorsabad, as well as many
other religious sites, also made headlines
during the course of the year. Thousands
of books on philosophy, law, science and
poetry were burned across the country,
including in Mosul in February.
UNESCO continued to condemn
these violent actions throughout the
year. Speaking at a press conference on
the devastation of the Mosul Museum
and archaeological sites in the Nineveh
region, the Director-General said ‘This
tragedy is far from just a cultural issue:
it is an issue of major security.‘ On behalf
of UNESCO, the Director-General also
alerted the International Criminal Court
to the crimes committed in this region,
as under the Rome Statute the deliberate
destruction of cultural heritage may
amount to a war crime.
© Teo Jioshvili
Further responding to this crisis in
Iraq, in June, UNESCO’s partner ICOM
presented an updated Red List for the
country during a ceremony at the Louvre
Museum (Paris, France), which was
attended by the Director-General.
On 30 November in Erbil, UNESCO
also organized a symposium under the
patronage of the Minister of Culture
of Iraq on ‘Threats to the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions and Means for
Addressing its Protection and Promotion‘,
as well as an exhibition on the cultural
heritage and diversity of Iraq as seen
through the eyes of displaced artists.
That spring in Syria, fear rose that its
World Heritage site of Palmyra was at risk
from intentional destruction. Palmyra
contains the monumental ruins of a
great city that was once one of the most
important cultural centres of the ancient
world. It lay at the crossroads of several
civilizations, and its art and architecture,
dating mainly from the first and second
centuries AD, married Greco-Roman
techniques with local traditions and
Persian influences. Its history during
the Umayyad era testifies to the ability
of the Arab-Muslim world to connect
with distant cultures and civilizations.
In addition to this alarm over one of
the most significant cultural sites in
the Middle East, the dangers facing the
local civilian population were also a top
concern. UNESCO called for an immediate
end to hostilities and asked the
international community to do everything
possible to protect civilians and safeguard
this unique cultural heritage. Countries
across the region are signatories to the
international conventions that confer an
obligation to protect cultural heritage
during times of conflict.
Unfortunately, these efforts did not
prevent the partial destruction of the
site. In June, ancient Muslim mausoleums
were reportedly destroyed in the Palmyra
area, followed by the destruction in
July of the famed Lion Statue, as well
as funerary busts. According to reports
and propaganda material, these acts
were committed in public, with the local