dr. J.D. (Joris) Kila - University of Amsterdam

Research (c) Joris Kila

Leptis Magna Theatre 29 September 2011 (c) photo Joris Kila

Media Release - September 30, 2011
by the Association of the National Committees of the Blue Shield (ANCBS)
and the International Military Cultural Resources Working Group (IMCuRWG)

Libyan World Heritage Sites Safe

The recent conflict in Libya called for an emergency assessment mission to determine the cultural heritage situation.Since no independent confirmation about damage and looting had occurred thus far, two organizations involvedin internationalprotection of cultural heritage, Blue Shieldand the International Military Cultural Resources Work Group, organized a mission to meet with Libyan officials and get a first hand impression of the situation.

The mission has visited the National Museum in Tripoli as well as two World Heritage archaeological sites: Sabratha and Leptis Magna. All three are closed to the public now, but well guarded. The team was very impressed by the excellent precautionary measures of the local museum professionals and archaeologists. The most important pieces were brought into the storage rooms or hidden vaults. Welding exterior doors proved to be much better protection than locks. Very important at the large archaeological sites was the intense collaboration with the local population, e.g. sheep herders.

· National Museum in Tripoli : no losses, nearly no damage.

In Leptis Magna Gaddafi militia tried to take control of the site, but without success. Everything is safe. · In Sabratha the Army Brigade 219 that occupied posts from early July until the 17th of August. This caused minor damage from small arms and anti aircraft fire and from the use of heavy equipment on site. The perimeter fence was broken down in many places.

Reports from other places in Libya were mixed. Among the bad news is that the museum in Misurata has been severely damaged, but it is not known if pieces are missing. The museum director was kidnapped by the Gaddafi militia shortly before the collapse and his fate is unknown.

Overall it has to be stated that there is no evidence of organized looting in the museums or sites.

Thefinal detailed and illustrated report will bepublished online next week on the web site of Blue Shield Austria:http://www.kulturgueterschutz.at .

About the mission

Planning this mission began this spring, but commenced in earnest only after the cessation of active hostilities in Tripoli. There were a number of problems to be solved with regard to official approval from theTransitional Government for the team to travel to Libya, not to mention the logistical problems of travel to and within Libya. The team flew to Djerba, Tunisia, on Tuesday, 27 September and on 28th they traveled by car to Tripoli. Today, September 30, the team has returned by the same route.

The team:

· Karl von Habsburg, President, Association of National Committees of the BlueShield (ANCBS)

· Dr. Joris Kila, Chairman, International Military Cultural Resources Work Group (IMCuRWG); University of Amsterdam, Institute for Culure and History

Support provided by:

· Dr. Hafed Walda (archaeologist from Misurata, currently working at King’s College in London)

Homebase (background research, coordination, communication):

· Dr. Thomas Schuler, President, Disaster Relief Task Force (DRTF) International Council of Museums

Media contact:

Dr. Thomas Schuler
Tel: +49 371 2601007
Fax: +49 371 2600743
Skype: drthschuler
Email: th.schuler@t-online.de

Research and forthcoming Monography (with Brill publishers)

Title: Cultural Heritage under Siege

subtitle: Military implementation of Cultural Property Protection following the 1954 Hague Convention. Restraints and Challenges.

Background information:

What’s new?

‘ ’Lessons learned from the early KFOR deployment stage showed that Cultural Property very often turns out to be the ultimate backing and identity-founding symbol, the last expression of self assertion of people who lost almost losteverything in an perpetuatedact of violence and ethnic cleansing’’. Brigadier General Wolfgang Peischel , Austrian Bundesheer.

Many conflicts have a cultural dimension and aim for destroying the opponent’s cultural heritage thus damaging identity. Cultural property can be a driving force behind human identity, history, progress and in some cases economy (tourism). All good reasons for Cultural Property Protection to be of strategic importance for belligerents.

As a side effect, looting, stealing and traffic in cultural artefacts during the conflict or in its direct aftermath (re)emerged in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Subsequently there is a need for the protection of sites and premises like museums, archives, libraries and monuments. An effective modus for protection during conflicts is through military channels and with military logistics and tools. This is necessary when the safety situation does not allow civil experts to be deployed and civil entities as the police are no longer capable. It must be taken into account that joint preparations also in peacetime are necessary.

Remarkable is the fact that in the past (WW II , Yugoslavia, 1st Gulf War), it has been a first priority to prevent Cultural Property from being damaged by military actions like bombardments and damage inflicted by the buildingof militaryinstallations. At present we are confronted withmilitary inaction in the face of looting by civilians. A contradiction though it may seem. Throughout history plundering used to be a part of or substitutefor military pay, as a result of this they were traditionally the pillagers, but the military context of looting changed.

Identification of effective strategies for protection can be hindered by the fact that, especially in times of crisis, certain cultural objects are looked upon as national or group-related almost sacred symbols causing extra sensitivity and creating targets for opposing forces. These targets can be important for their link with identity for their geographical position. The trade in and looting of artefacts in war stricken areas is in many cases practiced by opposing forces. Many artefacts originating from such areas are looted and buying them encourages more theft and pillaging and helps to finance the conflict.

Cultural Property Protection is in this context an instrument to deny resources to the enemy. All soldiers involved in missions in sensitive areas have to be informed that buying these goods is strictly forbidden. Military personnel entering or leaving a mission should be checked by military police. Looting issometimes even explained as redistributing or as the former British defence Minister Geoff Hoon stated in 2003 concerning plunder in Iraq ‘’liberating those items that are in the charge of the regime by entering its former facilities and the secret organizations and redistributing that wealth among the Iraqi people’’ . His counterpart from the US Rumsfeld just said “stuff happens” and ‘’freedom’s untidy’’. The plunder of archaeological sites isoften being driven by economic reasons but does not takeplace in an organized or systematic manner. The whole complex of the looting, stealing and smuggling of culturalproperty is of course market driven and based on the international rising demand for antiquities (see also P.J. O'Keefe, Tradein Antiquities p. 1. Paris1997). Since there is only a finite supply of objects that are available for trade any increasecan only come from illegitimate sources. Local populations however end up with lack of cultural resources that are also an important asset in peacetime to fight poverty by generating jobs through tourism and teach their children about history.

Manches Herrliche der Welt ist in krieg und Streit zerronnen. Wer beschützet und erhält, hat das größte Los Gewonnen

As was said by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) who already in 1826 recognized that cultural property needed to be protected during conflict or would be lost forever. Longbefore Goethe the subject was addressed in 1625 by Grotius the Dutch scholar in his juridical study ‘’On the law of war and peace’’ Grotius wrote ‘’reason compelled the sparing of those things which, if destroyed do not weaken the enemy nor bring gain to the one who destroys them, such as colonnades, statuesand the like – thatis things of value’’ . In France decrees and rules on the protection of certain “condemned treasures and monuments” were made as early as in 1791. Not much later these were followed by protective legislation demonstrated by the fact that decrees ordering the destruction of the “vestiges of despotism” should make exceptions for works of art.

This did not prevent Napoleon to take antiquities from Egypt to France after concluding his expedition to Egypt in 1801. The artefacts collected by the French as trophies of war were confiscated by the British afterthe final defeat ofNapoleon’s troops. Among thesewas the famousRosetta Stone, which is nowadays on display at the British Museum.

The protection of Cultural Property was first explicitly mentioned and codified in the Lieber Code of the US Federal Army of 1863 and is still part of the US military law. It gives protected status to libraries, scientific collections, and works of art. TheDeclaration of Brussels of 1874 and the Oxford Code of 1880 also mentioned Cultural Property but they were not ratified by a large enough number of countries to beconsidered an official international treaty . In 1907 the Hague Convention on Land Warfare required parties carrying out sieges and bombardments to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art or science, and historic monuments.

Although the phenomenon dates from ancient times, the destruction of Cultural Property became more devastating when aerial bombingand long-distance weapons were introduced. World War I resulted in the destruction of a large amount of Cultural Property in Belgium and eastern France but World War II was even more traumatic, due to systematic aerial bombardments and the export of artefactsfrom occupied territories . Several studies addressed the events concerning Cultural Property Protection during the last World War such as ‘’the Rape of Europa’’ an extensive account by Lynn H. Nicholas from 1994 and publications by Robert Edsel 2006, Patrick Boylan 2002 and Hector Feliciano 1997. These authors give a clear image of the offenses against cultural property systematically committedbyNaziinstitutions like Hitler’s and Goering’s art collecting squads and activities by the Soviets . The latter resulted in a situation that is still keeping the international cultural community occupied. All of this was made possible because Joseph Stalin took reparation into his own hands and ordered the Trophy Brigades to retrieve “price and quality equivalents of the artworks destroyed or removed from Russia during the War.”

These events contributed to what finally lead to the first universal convention dealing exclusively with CulturalProperty Protection, the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague Convention 1954) later strengthened by additional protocols and applying to international and national conflicts.

In April 2003 thesubject returned on the internationalagenda because of the looting of the Baghdad museum and the continuing devastation of Iraq’s archaeological sites.

Today wetry to meet the challenge of protecting heritage in new types of crises in the post-Cold War world, i.e. ethno-political/religious conflicts and humanitarian emergencies.

Joris Kila is carrying out scientific research on the subject for more than 5 years. He did field research during armed conflicts in Iraq and Macedonia (FYROM). In order to get access to military sources he enlisted as a reserve officer (rank: Lieutenant-Colonel) with the purpose of protecting Cultural heritage during armed conflict following International Humanitarian Law specifically The Hague Convention for the protection of cultural Property in the event of armed conflict and its two protocols.

Field research took a.o. place in Iraq during two separate missions in Baghdad en Al Muthanna.This research during armed conflict generated valuable case studies that are analysed in Kila's dissertation Heritage under Siege. In addition field research was carried out in and during the conflict in FYROM (Macedonia). This also generated a case study about the damaged and looted Mattejce Monastery. Recent cases involve Egypt and Libya.

Libya 2011 reports

Interview (Dutch language) with Joris Kila in Folia no. 20 Feb 8 2012

PUBLICATIONS

Kila 2012. Heritage under siege: Military implementation of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property. Brill/Nijhof expected April 2012.

Kila 2012. PhD Dissertation Heritage under siege: Military implementation of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property. Defended Febr 3rd University of Amsterdam.

Kila 2011c. Kila, Joris. Egypte 12-16 februari 2011. ''Verslag van een crisisbeoordelingsmissie voor cultureel erfgoed'' in Ta-Mery , vol 4, Leiden december 2011. pp. 36-41.

Kila 2011b. Kila, Joris.2011.Cultural Property Protection in the Context of Military Operations: The Case of Uruk, Iraq. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites (CMAS), 13.4: November 2011, 311–331.

Kila 2011a. Kila, Joris. Somethoughts on the current stateof military involvement in Cultural Property Protection, following the 1954 Hague Convention and Protocols. Article in OMZ (Austrian Military Magazine - issued 6 times a year) in German language September 2011.

Kila 2010c. Kila, Joris., (2010) Can white men sing the blues?Cultural Property Protection in times of armed conflict deploying military experts. October 2010 chapter in ‘’Archaeology, Cultural Property and the Military’’ edited by Laurie Rush, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge in the ‘’HeritageMatters’’ series.

Kila 2010a. Kila, Joris., Protecting Cultural Property in Armed Conflict. An insight into the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of CulturalProperty in the Eventof Armed Conflict: Embedding Cultural Property Protection within the Military in Planning for protection of cultural heritage in times of conflict . Eds. Lijnzaad,L. and Woudenberg, N. van . Brill/Nijhof Leiden 2010.

Kila 2010. Kila, Joris. The signs of identity , Cultural Property Protection within the military, following the 1954 Hague Convention and the 1999 Second Protocol. Conference proceedings Archaeology in Conflict April 2010 Vienna WAC (World Archaeological Congress). To be published by CSU (Colorado State University) 2011 in print.

Kila 2009. Kila, Joris.,(2009) The relevance of cultural heritage protection in times of armed conflict. Utilizing military cultural experts in war and peacetime: cases and examples from the field Article in an e-book by The Estonian Heritage Society ed. Marju Reismaa published in Estonian, KULTUURIVÄÄRTUSTE KAITSE RELVAKONFLIKTI KORRAL2009. http://www.muinsuskaitse.ee/failid/157_est_haagi_konvents.pdf

Kila 2008c. Kila, Joris. Vernacular Mudbrick Architecture in the Dahkleh Oasis, Egypt: and theDesignof the Dahkleh Oasis Training and Archaeological Centre, with Wolf Schijns and Olaf Kaper. Oxbow books, London 2008.

Kila 2008b.Kila, Joris . Utilizing Military Cultural experts in times of war and peace: an introduction Chapter 12 in: Culture and InternationalLaw, Paul Meerts editor. Hague Academic Press/Asser press The Hague , Cambridge University Press April 2008.

Kila 2008a. Kila, Joris, in Lawrence Rothfield, ed., Antiquities under Siege part II chapter 16 The Role of NATO and Civil Military Affairs. New York 2008.

AFFILIATIONS:

Recepient of ARCA's (Association for Research into Crimes against Art) 2012 Art Protection and Security award jointly with Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen. Award Ceremony in Amelia, Italy June 23-24,2012.

Recepient of the Medal of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States for services rendered in Operation Iraqi Freedom award ceremony 4 May 2012.

Series Editor: Heritage and Identity: Issues in Cultural Heritage Protection. New Book Series for Brill/Nijhof Publishers 2011.

Chair International Military CulturalResources WorkingGroup (IMCuR WG).

International Member& Advisor Combatant Commands Historical Cultural Action Group, US.

Member Netherlands Research Forum on the Law of ArmedConflict and Peace Operations (LAPCO). Faculty of LawUvA, Amsterdam.

Community Fellow CulturalPolicyCenterUniversity of Chicago , US.

Member Board of Trustees World Association for the Protection of Cultural Property in times of Conflict WATCH, Rome.

Member International society for Military Ethics

Selected Invited lectures and presentations

- Lecture at AFRICOM Headquarters in Stuttgart: ''on Military Cultural Property Protection'' + the Libyan case. 4 May 2012.

- Presenter at (closed) conference on Protecting Cultural Property in War Zones held at All Souls College University of Oxford on 19 March 2012 topic Cultural Heritage Protection and the Arab Spring

- Presenter at Debate Erfgoedbehoud in Crisistijd, Spui 25 ,15 March Amsterdam.

- 8-13 March 2012 participant assesment visit UvA delegation to Libya on invitation of the Libyan Dept. of Antiquities.

- 3 February 2012 Public Defense PhD Thesis Heritage under Siege. University of Amsterdam.

- January 9 2012 Chair panel and presenter international cooperation for the protection of heritage in conflict. AIA conference Philadelphia US.

-November 29 to December 2, 2011. Keynote presenter NATO-IMCURWG course on Cultural Property Protection in times of conflict, Vienna Austria.

- 11 November to 17November, 2011.Second emergency assesment mission to Libya, Benghazi, Cyrene ao. IMCURWG and ANCBS.

-21 October 2011, UNESCO High Expert meeting on Lybia, presentation for all delegations and experts on the findings of the UvA/IMCurWG/Blue Shield emergency mission to Libya.

Emergency assessment mission to Libya from 26 September to 30 September 2011. Sites visited and checked Tripoli Museum, Sabratha, Leptis Magna, Misurata. Report seewww.blueshield.at

- Onderzoeksgroep Dynamiek van de Herinnering aan de UvA. Maandag 11 april 2011, 16.00 - 17.30 uur, Locatie: Turfdraagsterpad 9, zaal 013, UvA Spreker: Joris Kila. Project: The Military and Cultural Property Protection.

- PublicLecture at Leiden University Friday March 4th. by Joris Kila. Egyptian Antiquities, looting , InternationalLawand Diplomacy reporton the firstassessment Mission to Egypt ofFebruary 2011. 14.00 h Student Center Plexus, Kaiser Straat 25, Leiden.

- EmergencyAssessment missionto Egypt 12 - 16 February 2011, assessments at Saqqara,Dashur, Abusir, Cairo. team IMCURWG Chair Joris Kila, ANCBS President Karl von Habsburg. See for the report http://www.blueshield.at/

- Panel member and presenter Militarycultural PropertyProtection Workshop at the American Institute of Archaeology (AIA) Conference in San Antonio US. January 10-13th 2011.

- Lecturer course The Protection ofCultural Propertyin ArmedConflict. International Institute ofHumanitarian Law, San Remo Italy13-15 December 2010

-Chair and Presenter panelon military cooperation regarding Cultural property Protection. 7th International Conference on Science and Technology in Archaeology Petra Jordan 7- 12 December 2010

- Keynote speaker, militarycourse Protection of Cultural Property in cooperation with UNESCO. Military Academy Vienna, September 2010.

- Presentation & Paper Vienna Conference Archaeology in Conflict Vienna, Austria , April 2010

- Presentation at CulturalDiplomacy Panel: Cultural Diplomacy and the Politics of Identity: The Power ofCulture and Civil Society. In cooperation withthe Abu Dhabi AuthorityforCultureandHeritage (ADACH) Assilah Arts Festival, Morocco 2010

- Lecture: University of Leiden Faculty Archaeology and Heritage studies Honours Class 2010.

- Lecture: Protection of Cultural Heritage in times of Conflict Hague Center for strategic Studies (HCSS) The Hague 2009.

-Lecture :Universityof Leiden faculty of Archaeology 2009.

- Lecture:The American UniversityinCairo, Sociology - Anthropology-Psychology- Egyptology Department: International andJointCooperationon Cultural Property Protection in times of Conflict,2009.

- Lecture NATO School Oberammergau Germany: Environmental aspects of CPP following STANAG 7141 EP doctrine 2009.

- Presentation and paper Conference World Association for the protection of cultural heritage in times of conflict WATCH, Rome 2009.

- Organizerand keynote speaker for the Dutch Ministry of Defence of the Seminar: Cultural Property Protection in timesofConflict, themilitarycontext. Held in The Peace palace The Hague 2009.

- Keynote talk US DoD Phoenix Arizona Sustainable Military Readiness Conference US. 2009

- Presentation & paper Cultural Property Protection and the Dutch (military) contribution AIA (American Institute of Archaeology) conferences in Chicago 2008, Philadelphia 2009, Anaheim 2010.

- Lecture Seminar on Preventive Conservation and Monitoring of the Architectural Heritage Sprecomah. Val de Loire France in cooperation with University of Leuven Belgium 2008.

- Keynote talk ProtectingCulturalHeritage in times ofarmed conflict conference Tallinn, Estonia 2008. - Presentation and paper Conference World Association for the Protection of cultural heritage in times of conflictWATCHBaeza, Spain 2007.

-Presentation University ofChicago dept. Paris seminar Cultural Property Protection 2007.

- Presentation en publication conference From Peace to Justice: Culture and International Law 2007 The Hague. Peace palace. Organized by the Hague Coalition.

-Lecture: Protection ofCultural Property,Netherlands Flemish Institutein Cairo Egypt 2007.

- Presentation en publication: closed seminar Antiquities under Siege at Pocantico Center New York, organized by the Cultural Policy Center University of Chicago and Rockefeller Brothers Fund. 2007.

- Papers en lecture : Vienna 2005 NATO/PFP Civil-Military Relations Seminar VII Military Ethics (III) the Protection of Cultural Property and (military) leadership, the AustrianNational Defense Academy, Vienna.Idem in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

-Keynote speaker “Cultural Heritage Management in Times of Armed Conflicts”AmmanJordan organized by the European Commission Delegation to Jordan and Europe Aid, throughthe Regional ManagementandSupport Unit of the Euromed Heritage Program April 2005. Paper: Selection and dispatch of Cultural Heritage experts toareas of conflict. Criteria and practice of cultural heritage management in times of armed conflict. Recommendations of the workgroups Amman 16 April 2005, Euromed Heritage Rome 2005.

Educational tools about Protecting Cultural Heritage

Cultural Property Protection Playing Cards as a trainingtool for military that are about to be deployed in foreign mission areas.The Cards were developed in cooperation and with support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture andScience, the State Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage and the Dutch UNESCO Committee. Special permission was granted by The Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands [1](CEMML) is aresearch andservice unit within the Collegeof Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU) and the US DoD Legacy fund who developed the original US playing cards.

[1] www.cemml.colostate.edu

Speelkaarten CPP seminar Brochure web format 3.jpg

International Military Cultural Resources Working Group

IMCURWG

Burgemeester Patijnlaan 1134 2585 CGThe Hague - Netherlands

imcurwg@ziggo.nl

November 2010 International Military Cultural Resources Working Group (IMCURWG).

IMCURWG comprises cultural heritage professionals working in the military context in order to:

* Enhance military capacity to implement cultural property protection (CPP) across the full range of operations

* Provide a forum for international co-operation and networking for those working within the military context

* Identify areas of commoninterest

* Share best practiceand lessons learnt

* Raise awareness and publicise military commitment to the protection of cultural property and cultural heritage both tangible and intangible

* Initiate and stimulateresearch on CPP and military involvement

* Assist in the creation of an international military cultural emergency team

Membership is by invitation and will be restricted normally to cultural heritage experts working within the military context. However, recognising that the effectiveness ofthis group willbe its ability to work in a liaison capacity the group may invite advisors,for example from NGOs and universities, and observers to participate as appropriate. Membersand sub- committee participants are expectedtocontribute in a pro-active and inventive manner.

IMCURWG is not intended to replace any existing organisations working in this field. Rather, it would be in a position to be pro-active in developing partnerships and networks between the military and existing non-military organisations and groups.