UNESCO Calls for Not Using Sudanese Archaeological Sites for Military Purposes
moatinoon
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed deep concern about recent reports indicating military activity on the Island of Meroe in Sudan. It urged the conflicting parties not to target these sites or use them for military purposes.
In a statement released today, Friday, UNESCO said, "UNESCO calls on all relevant parties to fully respect international law, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. This convention explicitly prohibits targeting cultural properties or using them for military purposes. UNESCO continues to closely monitor the situations developments."
This statement follows a series of statements issued by cultural and national organizations and groups in response to their calls for international intervention.
The "Save Sudanese Heritage Initiative," concerned with calling for the rescue and preservation of Sudanese heritage, the "Regional Network for Cultural Rights" - Sudan, and the Sudanese human rights organization "Emergency Lawyers" condemned the entry of the Rapid Support Forces into the archaeological sites of Naga and Musawarat in the Nile River State in the north of the country. Battles have taken place near these sites between the conflicting parties. They urged UNESCO to intervene.
UNESCO warned of the declining security capacity at Sudans heritage sites, raising the risks of looting and illegal trafficking of cultural properties. It called on law enforcement agencies, stakeholders in the art market, and all cultural professionals to be vigilant and refrain from importing, participating in, exporting, or transferring ownership of cultural properties when they have reasonable grounds to believe that the properties have been stolen, illegally transported, secretly excavated, or exported unlawfully from Sudan.
The organization noted that since April 2023, it has been mobilizing efforts within its mandate to support the cultural, educational, scientific, and informational sectors in Sudan. In addition to reminding of international law, UNESCO has implemented a series of emergency measures in the country and neighboring nations.
UNESCO emphasized that the archaeological sites on the Island of Meroe, located between the Nile and Atbara rivers, which served as the center of the Kingdom of Kush from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE, were included in the World Heritage List in 2011.
