The document discusses the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property. It provides context on the Blue Shield organization, which works to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts. It outlines some of Blue Shield's expertise, activities, and partnerships in safeguarding cultural property. The document also discusses the UK's ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention in 2017 and some challenges in implementing its provisions for identifying and protecting cultural property.
2024: The FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulations - Part 18
Implementing the 1954 Hague Convention: protecting Cultural Property
1. Implementing the 1954 Hague
Convention: protecting Cultural
Property
Suzanna Joy
Blue Shield UK Trustee
2. Who is Blue Shield
2
An NGO promoting CPP, underpinned by the 1954
Hague Convention
GLAMS community:
• Galleries
• Libraries
• Archives
• Museums & monuments
• Sites
Working in partnership with
armed forces of nation states
Enablers
End users
CPP
8. Hague Convention Article 17. Use of the emblem
2. The distinctive emblem may be used alone only as a means of
identification of:
(b) the persons responsible for the duties of control in accordance
with the Regulations for the execution of the Convention;
(c) the personnel engaged in the protection of cultural property;
Second Protocol 1999: Functions:
3. To assist in the implementation of its functions, the [Second
Protocol] Committee may invite to its meetings, in an advisory
capacity, eminent professional organizations such as those which
have formal relations with UNESCO, including the International
Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS) and its constituent bodies.
Emblem and Advisors
9. – Cultural property (CP) is defined in Article 1 of the 1954 Hague Convention
“irrespective of origin or ownership” as:
“(a) movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural
heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art or
history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites; groups of
buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest; works of
art; manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or
archaeological interest; as well as scientific collections and important
collections of books or archives or of reproductions of the property defined
above;
(b) buildings whose main and effective purpose is to preserve or exhibit the
movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (a) such as museums,
large libraries and depositories of archives, and refuges intended to
shelter, in the event of armed conflict, the movable cultural property
defined in sub-paragraph (a);
(c) centres containing a large amount of cultural property as defined in
sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), to be known as `centres containing
monuments'”.
Cultural Heritage / Cultural Property
11. The Blue Shield is an
organisation that is
committed to the protection of
the world’s cultural property,
and is concerned with the
protection of cultural and
natural heritage, tangible and
intangible, in the event of
armed conflict, natural- or
human-made disaster.
(Article 2.1, 2016 Statutes)
The Blue Shield organisation
Checkpoint Charlie today - perhaps the best-
known Berlin Wall crossing point between East
Berlin and West Berlin, Germany
By Anne Lindemann (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
12. • Primary context is the 1954 Hague
Convention
• But also the post-conflict period
• Natural and environmental disasters
• Heritage
destruction
outside
“official”
armed conflicts
• Tackling looting
and ensuing
illicit trafficking
Blue Shield Approach
Nepal military and police
assisting museum staff from the
Nepal Department of Antiquities
in salvaging collections and
architectural fragments,
Kathmandu, Nepal, 8 June 2015.
Photo copyright: Corine
Wegener, Smithsonian
Institution
13. Blue Shield Activities
• Collecting and sharing information on threats to cultural heritage
• Raising public awareness
• Working to make decision makers and professional staff aware of
the need to develop prevention, preparedness, response and
recovery measures
• Promoting good standards of risk management
• Identifying resources for disaster prevention and rapid
intervention, and providing professional expertise
• Policy development
14. BS (International and UK) Partners
In addition to ICOMOS, ICOM, IFLA, and ICA
• National Committees
• UNESCO
• NATO
• USAF Academy
• UK MoD
• UK Defence Geographic Centre
• Advisors, including e.g. ICRC
15. UK MoD capabilities
15
Cultural Property Protection Group
Special Group Military Intelligence
77 Brigade
Defence Geographic Centre
16. Historic England
The government’s principal advisory body for the
historic environment in England
Responsible for:
• applied research
• the listing system
• planning matters
Provides expert advice, support and grants for the
heritage sector across England
17. • 2003 Iraq War – Lord Renfrew, Peter Stone
• Lobbying Govt
Lead up to ratification
18. • 14 May 1954: the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the Event of Armed Conflict opens for signatories, followed by First Protocol
• 17 May 1999: The Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict opens for
signatories
• 23 Feb 2017: Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017 receives Royal Assent
• 12 Sept 2017: UK deposits instruments of ratification with UNESCO
• 13 December 2017: the 1954 Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event
of Armed Conflict and the First and
Second Protocol enter into force.
2017: UK ratifies Hague 1954 Convention
19. • Safeguarding of and respect for cultural property (ours and
other peoples) during armed conflict
• Refraining from any use of [CP] for purposes which are likely to
expose it to destruction or damage in the event of armed
conflict; and by refraining from any act of hostility directed
against such property
• Has a stringent waiver of imperative military necessity
• Preventing looting and pillage
• Make preparations in times of peace to do this including
‒ fostering respect for CP in the armed forces
‒ designating competent authorities responsible for the
safeguarding of cultural property
‒ establish services or specialist personnel to secure respect for
cultural property within the armed forces
Ratification requirement
20. Safeguarding CP in times of peace
(a) designating competent authorities, including within the armed forces of
[insert country name], responsible for the safeguarding of cultural property;
(b) ensuring wide dissemination of knowledge regarding of the Convention
and Protocols among military personnel and the general population;
(c) identifying cultural property and preparing inventories;
(d) planning emergency measures for the protection of cultural property
against fire or structural collapse;
(e) preparing for the removal of movable cultural property or the provision of
adequate in situ protection of such property;
(f) incorporating guidelines or instructions on the protection of cultural
property in military doctrine, procedures, regulations and training materials;
[(g) marking cultural property with the cultural-property emblem]
(Second Protocol) Key safeguarding
principles
6.1
21. 2013: Army HQ Concepts Branch – Lt Col Tim Purbrick reads “A
four-tier approach to the protection of cultural property in the event
of armed conflict” (Antiquity/British Army Review)
2013/4: CPP Concept paper circulated to senior Army staff and
Military
2014: Cultural Property Protection Working Group formed
2015: UK announce intent to ratify the HC1954
2016: government announced “the armed forces would establish a
military cultural property protection unit”
MoD Cultural Property Protection
‘you don’t know who I am’, Lt Col Purbrick said, ‘but I have read
your article in the British Army Review, I work at Army HQ and I
think that there’s something that we may be able to do about your
proposals.’
22. The Reserve Unit is beginning process of staff selection and
recruitment
The working group includes representatives from:
MoD Cultural Property Protection today
• Joint services staff
‒ training, intelligence,
doctrine, legal,
operations, etc
• Geospatial Intelligence staff
• Archaeologists
• Academia
• NGOs
• Museums
• And more!
23. Safeguarding CP in times of peace
(a) designating competent authorities, including within the armed forces of
[insert country name], responsible for the safeguarding of cultural property;
(b) ensuring wide dissemination of knowledge regarding of the Convention
and Protocols among military personnel and the general population;
(c) identifying cultural property and preparing inventories;
(d) planning emergency measures for the protection of cultural property
against fire or structural collapse;
(e) preparing for the removal of movable cultural property or the provision of
adequate in situ protection of such property;
(f) incorporating guidelines or instructions on the protection of cultural
property in military doctrine, procedures, regulations and training materials;
[(g) marking cultural property with the cultural-property emblem]
(Second Protocol) Key safeguarding
principles
6.1
24. BS operations support activity
24
• Enrich decision making by bringing expertise to
military command processes, functioning at the civil-
military interface
Heritage
Community
Military
operational
activity
25. NATO policy development
NATO project:
Best practices for CPP in
NATO-led Military
Operations
NATO and Cultural Property:
Embracing New Challenges
in the Era of Identity Wars
26. Training for the Defence Cultural
Specialist Unit
The protection of cultural
property in armed conflict
3 day course, February 2017
Training
27. “The government considers that cultural property in the following categories meets the
definition set out in Article 1 of the Convention and is therefore protected by the
Convention and Protocols.”
28. Article 5 of the Second Protocol expands on this by
giving some examples of the kind of preparatory
measures to be taken, as appropriate. These include:
• the preparation of inventories;
• the planning of emergency measures for protection against
fire or structural collapse;
• the preparation for the removal of movable cultural
property or the provision of adequate in situ protection of
such property; and
• the designation of competent authorities responsible for
the safeguarding of cultural property.
UK ratification:
Implementation problems (1)
29. “The owners, guardians and trustees of protected cultural property
will not be required to take any new measures to comply with this
obligation. […] [Government] does not intend to impose any
additional safeguarding requirements during peacetime.”
UK ratification:
Implementation problems (1)
“The government considers that [these measures] are common
sense precautions which are likely to be covered by existing
contingency planning for an emergency or natural disaster.
In the event of armed conflict affecting the United Kingdom, the
government will work with both agencies and other partners to
provide, where appropriate, additional advice on safeguarding
cultural property.
30. Safeguarding CP in times of peace
(a) designating competent authorities, including within the armed forces of
[insert country name], responsible for the safeguarding of cultural property;
(b) ensuring wide dissemination of knowledge regarding of the Convention
and Protocols among military personnel and the general population;
(c) identifying cultural property and preparing inventories;
(d) planning emergency measures for the protection of cultural property
against fire or structural collapse;
(e) preparing for the removal of movable cultural property or the provision of
adequate in situ protection of such property;
(f) incorporating guidelines or instructions on the protection of cultural
property in military doctrine, procedures, regulations and training materials;
[(g) marking cultural property with the cultural-property emblem]
UK ratification:
Implementation problems (3)
6.1
31. “The government considers that cultural property in the following categories meets the
definition set out in Article 1 of the Convention and is therefore protected by the
Convention and Protocols.”
32. “The list…is indicative and non-exhaustive and
is published for guidance only. Inclusion in the
list is not a prerequisite for protection by the
Convention and its Protocols. Any cultural
property which meets the definition set out in
the Convention is protected, whether or not it
is included in the list.”
UK ratification:
Implementation problems (3)
34. “Legal value”
Palace of Justice, Nuremberg
International
Criminal Court
Original benches on which accused
Nazi leaders sat, with image from
Leaders Trial – Exhibition at Memorium
Nuremberg Trials, Palace of Justice,
Nuremberg, Germany
Sarayevo National Library
35. “Strategic value”
al-Askariya Shi’ite Mosque,
Samarra, Baghdad Province
Linked to rise in sectarian
violence
Prior to 2006, by Toushiro. Post 2006, by US Army
(Both Wikimedia Commons)Shelling of Sarayevo’s National
Library 1992
http://art-crime.blogspot.com/
Palmyra: Temple of Baalshamin
Propaganda destruction by
Daesh
Judith McKenzie/Manar al-Athar. 13 April 2010
36. “Abstract value” (the moral obligation)
The (listed) Cathedral?
The (unlisted) parish
church?
The private graves?
37. To protect cultural property, you must know
• what it is
• where it is
• how is it vulnerable?
Forms part of the Armed
Forces No-Strike List
Enables informed decisions about the use or
non-use of force in that area
But whose responsibility is collecting data?
CPP Intelligence
NATO:
identified a “CPP data layer
as a critical decision support
tool and precondition for
engaging […] on a strategic
and tactical level”
38. What to protect?
• Few countries have a comprehensive
register
• Data is rarely stored in compatible formats
• Locating and standardising data is
extremely time-consuming
– E.g. Syria – c. 4-6 months (1 FT
person) to identify and verify 1300 key
locations
– Libya – c. 3-6 months (1FT person) to
identify and verify 425 locations
• Creation is usually unfunded
“When in doubt, […] to
ensure their state’s
compliance with the
law of armed conflict
and to avoid their
personal responsibility
for war crimes,
commanders and other
military personnel
should treat all
objects, structures
and sites of historic,
artistic or
architectural
significance on
foreign territory as
‘cultural property’
protected by the 1954
Hague Convention and
its two Protocols and
by customary
international law.”
39. What this means for Archives, Libraries
and Information Sector
A lot of work of around emergency preparedness for museums,
Libraries and archives already carried out, however knowledge gaps
about what, where and vulnerabilities to new forms of warfare and
terorism exist, as well as how to fund where gaps are identified.
Crimes against cultural heritage, has never been greater. Its not just
damage caused by conflict, but looting ,trafficking, and sale of
material to finance terrorism, to new types of environmental disasters.
How can we move forward?
40. Blue Shield knowledge support activity
40
• Work with the heritage community to take
appropriate safeguarding measures
• Coordinate heritage community activity in order to
support the development of national cultural heritage
databases
• Enrich decision making by bringing expertise to
military command processes, functioning at the civil-
military interface