War, the terrible impact of explosive weapons on cultural heritages around the world

OSLO – Bombing and shelling of cities and towns during armed conflicts have devastating consequences for civilians and cultural heritage. He reiterates this in a note Human Rights Watch el’International Human Rights Clinic from the Harvard Law School in a report released today. Minimizing this harm should be addressed at the first meeting of countries endorsing the 2022 Political Declaration on the protection of civilians from the use of explosive weaponswhich will be held in Oslo, Norway, from April 22 to 24, 2024. The 80-page report, “Destroying cultural heritage: effects of explosive weapons in armed conflicts and measures to improve protection“, details the immediate and long-term damage resulting from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas of cultural heritage, such as historic buildings and places of worship, museums and archives, public squares and performance centers.

The appeal. It proves that the Explosive Weapons Statement could serve as a valuable tool in addressing the problem. “Governments should recognize that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas endangers cultural heritage and the people who guard it,” said Bonnie Docherty, senior weapons advisor at Human Rights Watch and professor of law at the Harvard Clinic. “To preserve this heritage for future generations, parties to armed conflict should respect the 2022 Political Declaration and refrain from shelling and shelling populated urban areas.”

Weapons with long-term indirect effects. When used in populated areas, explosive weapons, such as aerial bombs, artillery shells, rockets and missiles, kill and injure civilians and destroy civilian targets upon attack. These weapons also have long-term indirect, or “reverberant,” effects that exacerbate civilian suffering. By damaging cultural heritage, weapons erase history, undermine community identity and unity, and have financial costs. Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Clinic interviewed 17 experts and affected civilians, examined primary and secondary sources, and conducted legal analyses.

The examination of ongoing wars. They examined Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine to illustrate the vulnerability of cultural heritage to explosive weapons in populated areas. They examined five examples – including local museums and archives, cultural sites in urban centers and places of worship – that highlight the frequency, diversity and severity of the effects of explosive weapons on cultural heritage and why these effects are important for the civilian population The researchers also drew on examples from other armed conflicts, particularly Gaza and Yemen, to differentiate and elaborate the direct and indirect damage to places and people that this method of warfare causes. “The use of explosive weapons causes heartbreaking casualties in sites and objects that can be held locally or globally,” Docherty said. “The damage also strikes the heart of a nation’s people, who expect to pass on their cultural heritage from one generation to the next.”

The membership of 86 countries. From November 18, 2022, 86 countries adhered to the Declaration, which sets standards for preventing and remediating the effects of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Countries should interpret the Declaration and put it into practice to maximize the protection of cultural heritage, they said Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Clinic. In addition to avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, countries should, for example, train soldiers to recognize and understand the importance of local cultural heritage, collect and share data relating to damage to cultural heritage, and enable experts to Preserve immediate access to affected sites. By taking such measures, parties to armed conflict can strengthen safeguards for cultural heritage established under existing international law.