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UNESCO revives the Lebanese Army’s interest in the protection of Cultural Property

11/11/2021
Beirut, Lebanon

In 2019, Lebanon ratified the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property during armed conflict, a significant milestone for the country, which was among the first to sign the 1954 Hague Convention and its First Additional Protocol. With this achievement, Lebanon undertook a commitment to build up proper measures to develop a national policy to secure natural and cultural heritage from any type of hazards, ranging from earthquakes, fire and floods, to social unrest and conflicts. Conscious that active efforts are needed to fulfill this commitment, UNESCO, the Newcastle University and Blue Shield International held a two-day training workshop in Beirut for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on implementing The Hague Convention and its two protocols, to ensure good cultural property protection.

“It’s very important to train the uniform sector such as the military, customs, the police or emergency services, explains Professor Peter Stone, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Property Protection and Peace at Newcastle University, and President of the Blue Shield. It is one of three pillars, along with the heritage and humanitarian sectors, and we all have one long-term objective that is the creation of heritage peaceful sustainable communities. To achieve this, a key thing is cultural property which gives people a sense of dignity, belonging, well-being and identity”. In this regard, Professor Stone assures that Blue Shield has been working with the LAF and UNESCO Beirut since 2013, emphasizing that the current course aims at showing that the protection of Cultural Property is not an additional useless burden, but an integral part of securing the communities in Lebanon. “The course raises awareness about the legal framework of protecting CP in times of peace -which is ideal- and in times of conflict, and about trade and illicit traffic of antiquities, he says. It is very practical, with a mix of lectures, examples of good practice, and exercises with fictional scenarios similar to Lebanon, which has been an intersection for the world for centuries. Phoenicians did wonderful trade and helped move things around. That’s why Lebanon is a melting pot with rich cultural property”.

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A joint responsibility

To further help participants develop their understanding of the obligations to prevent illicit trafficking, the practical sessions looked at how legal instruments apply to the country of origin, transit, and market countries and occupying forces. They also explored how this applies to Lebanon now and how it might change in the future, while getting an overview of how trafficking networks work and how to spot potentially illicit exports. The course also clarified the prerogatives of the armed forces and their margins of manoeuver, and to what extent they can use their force and power to protect CP.

 “The participants are aware of basic knowledge of legal instruments but lack the practical experience they gained today on how to apply the legislation to their daily job”, notes Fionnuala Rogers, Chair of Blue Shield UK. “We hope they share the knowledge between each other and colleagues, adds the expert, because it applies anywhere in the world and in Lebanon which is indeed a traffic route. Fortunately, Lebanese authorities take Cultural Property protection very seriously”.

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The training also welcomed members of the Directorate General of Antiquities, which are on the front lines of protection of CP. “We already had a big interest in the topic, but we have gained more awareness with this workshop”, reveals a participant. These assertions are confirmed by Colonel Ziad Rizkallah, who assures that the topic is part of the curriculum of the LAF, but that the participants have gained a new perspective with the training. “Every member who can benefit from the training is taking part, whether an investigator, police officer, or engineer, he says. Armed forces should be prepared and trained in time of peace in order to intervene in any exceptional situation that could face Lebanon. Since the end of the civil war in the 90sd, the LAF have shown interest in CP and up until today. Lately, for example, we managed to return stolen antiquities from Syria…”

The workshop concluded with remarks by Joseph Kreidi, Programme Officer for Culture in Lebanon at UNESCO Beirut, who recalled “Lebanon has experienced first-hand the need and importance of protecting cultural property, in particular during the 2006 War”. “At the time, the Director General of UNESCO launched a heritage alert for the Middle East, reminding States Parties to the 1954 Hague Convention of their international obligations regarding the protection of cultural property during armed conflict. The countries in the Middle East received the alert and it resulted in limited damage to World Heritage sites. Lebanon and UNESCO Beirut cooperated after the conflict to restore the Byblos, Baalbek and Tyre World Heritage sites”. He concluded: “The protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict is not the responsibility of countries alone, but also that of the international community as a whole. Despite the increasing number of parties to The Hague Convention and its two Protocols and the increasing awareness of the public and the military forces, we still have a long way to go to solve this problem”.

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