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LONDON,
(CAIS) -- As the plundering of
artifacts continues in what is today known as Iraq, the
work that University scholars and others have done to
protect them will be the focus of a conference titled,
“Protecting Cultural Heritage: International Law after
the War in Iraq.”
The conference, which will
take place at 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3, in the Weymouth
Kirkland Courtroom at the Law School, will examine
shortcomings in the international legal framework built
over the last century to prevent looting and destruction
of cultural property in times of war.
McGuire Gibson, Professor
in the Oriental Institute, as well as other academics,
called international attention to the pillaging of
Baghdad’s National Museum in the early weeks of the US
invasion. They also drew attention to the plundering at
archaeological sites throughout the country land took
place as a result of the war.
Gibson will be a panelist
at the conference, as will Marine Reserve Col. Matthew
Bogdanos, who was in charge of investigating the museum
looting and who is the author of Thieves of Baghdad,
a book about the incident.
The looting of antiquities
in the aftermath of war has become common, said conference
panelist Lawrence Rothfield, Associate Professor in
English Language & Literature, and Faculty Director of
the Cultural Policy Center.
“The list of recently
looted sites includes Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, Bosnia’s
churches and Karwar, often described as ‘Afghanistan’s
Pompeii,’” said Rothfield, who is also a principal
organizer of the conference. “But the point of departure
for a policy discussion on wartime looting must be Iraq,
where following our intervention the [allegedly] cradle of
civilization is now being systematically robbed.”
Existing international law
provides several legal instruments intended to protect
cultural heritage during armed conflict and occupation.
“However, these international conventions must be
evaluated in light of changes in how wars are fought;
changes in cultural resource management techniques used to
preserve historic monuments and archaeological sites; and
our current understanding of the interaction between
warfare and the international antiquities market,”
Rothfield said.
Panelists will consider the
legal status of the 1954 Hague Convention, its
applicability to the events in Iraq and proposals for a
new protocol to the Hague Convention designed to address
the problems that arose in Iraq. The need for a new
protocol is urgent given the possibility of war in other
regions rich in cultural heritage resources, Rothfield
said.
Eric Posner, Professor in
the Law School, will serve as a respondent to the
questions and concerns of the discussion, while Kenneth
Dam, the Max Pam Professor Emeritus and Senior Lecturer in
the Law School, will moderate.
Other panelists will be
Patrick Boylan, emeritus professor of heritage policy and
management, City University, London; Patty Gerstenblith,
professor, DePaul University College of Law and legal
counsel for the Archeological Institute of America; and
Jan Hladik, Program Specialist, Cultural Heritage
Division, UNESCO.
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Source: Chicago Chronicle
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