The evolution of the international legal regulation of the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict

INTRODUCTION. In recent decades, there has been an escalation of armed clashes in the territories of African states, the states of the Middle East and Central Asia with the participation of military formations, international terrorist groups that everywhere use the practice of attacking and looting cultural property as a military strategy. In this regard, of scientific and practical interest is a comprehensive study of the legal and organizational foundations of international legal regulation of the protection of cultural property during armed conflicts, evaluation of their effectiveness and identification of promising tasks for the development of additional measures and strategies for the preservation of cultural heritage, taking into account new challenges and threats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. This paper examines the provisions of key international treaties, decisions of the main bodies and specialized agencies of the UN, which together form the existing international legal regime for the protection of cultural property in armed conflict. The author also analyzes the jurisprudence of international criminal justice bodies on bringing individuals to justice for deliberate attacks on cultural sites as part of hostilities. Special attention is paid to the study of scientific works of both domestic and foreign scientists, within which international legal concepts are formed, designed to resolve existing problems in the current international legal regulation of the issue under study, as well as to form promising concepts in the framework of the development of the doctrine of international law. The methodological basis is made up of general scientific and special research methods.

RESEARCH RESULTS. According to the results of the study, it was found that during the XX century states have consistently developed norms for the protection of cultural property from threats associated with armed conflicts, while the XXI century was marked by best practice in the application of the rules on liability for attacks on cultural property in situations of armed conflict in the activities of international justice bodies. In addition, it was determined that for the first time in the history of UN peacekeeping, the UN Security Council tested the mandate of the Multidisciplinary Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, in which the peacekeeping contingent, among other things, performed the tasks of protecting, safeguarding and restoring cultural heritage sites together with UNESCO. It seems significant to identify and generalize the prospects for the development of new international legal measures for the preservation of cultural heritage for future generations, taking into account the changing nature of armed conflicts, the intensification of the activities of international terrorist groups and the growing practice of destroying the centuries-old cultural heritage of peoples in the framework of the so-called “cultural cleansing". The topical aspect of the study was the establishment of new approaches of states to the protection of cultural heritage as a means of ensuring international peace and security.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The publication presents the author's objective assessments of the established international legal framework, judicial practice of international criminal justice bodies, as well as doctrinal approaches of both domestic and foreign scientists on the issue of international legal regulation of the protection of cultural property during armed conflicts. Separately, the forms of international legal cooperation of states at the UN site within the framework of the UNESCO profile organization for the development of modern regulatory and organizational foundations for the interaction of the competent authorities of states to prevent and suppress the destruction of cultural heritage, as well as the looting and illegal export of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict, especially terrorist groups.

1. Arutyunyan A. Delo Al'-Makhdi i napadenie na kul'turnye tsennosti kak mezhdunarodnoe prestuplenie [Delo AlMahdi i napadenie na kul’turnye tsennosti kak mezhdunarodnoe prestuplenie]. – Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie. 2017. No. 2. P. 118-132. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.21128/2226-2059-2017-2-118-132

2. Batyr' V.A. Mezhdunarodno-pravovye rezhimy okhrany kul'turnykh tsennostei v usloviyakh fakticheskoi situatsii vooruzhennogo konflikta [International Legal Regimes for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict]. – Lex russica (Russkii zakon). 2023. Vol. 76. No. 7. P. 98-118. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17803/1729-5920.2023.200.7.098-118

3. Boguslavskii M.M. Sud'ba kul'turnykh tsennostei [The fate of cultural values]. Moscow: Yurist Publ. 2006. 206 p. (In Russ.)

4. Bugnon F. Stanovlenie pravovoi zashchity kul'turnykh tsennostei v sluchae vooruzhennogo konflikta [Formation of the legal protection of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict]. – Mezhdunarodnyi zhurnal Krasnogo Kresta. 2004. No. 854. P. 5 -17. (In Russ.)

5. David L. Nersessian. Genocide and Political Groups. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. 380 р.

6. Dokumenty po mezhdunarodnomu gumanitarnomu pravu i drugie dokumenty, otnosyashchiesya k vedeniyu voennykh deistvii. 5-e izd. [Documents on international humanitarian law and other documents related to the conduct of hostilities.5th ed.]. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnyi Komitet Krasnogo Kresta Publ. 2010. 396 p. (In Russ.)

7. Egorov S.A., Anisimov I.O. “Kul'turnaya chistka” i zashchita kul'turnykh ob"ektov v period vooruzhennykh konfliktov [“Cultural cleansing” and the protection of cultural sites during armed conict]. – Elektronnoe setevoe izdanie “Mezhdunarodnyi pravovoi kur'er”. 2019. No. 6. P. 1-7. (In Russ.)

8. Fiankan-Bokonga K. Istoricheskaya rezolyutsiya dlya zashchity kul'turnogo naslediya [A historic resolution to protect cultural heritage]. – Kur'er UNESCO. 2017. No.3. P. 7-10. (In Russ.)

9. Frigo M. Kul'turnye tsennosti i kul'turnoe nasledie: “bor'ba ponyatii” v mezhdunarodnom prave? [Cultural Values and Cultural Heritage: A “Struggle of Concepts” in International Law?]. – Mezhdunarodnyi zhurnal Krasnogo Kresta. 2004. No. 854. P. 67-80. (In Russ.)

10. Glotova S.V. Kontseptsiya prestuplenii protiv chelovechnosti: obshchepriznannost' i sushchnostnye priznaki v svete sovremennogo razvitiya mezhdunarodnogo prava [The Totion of “Сrimes against Humanity”: the General Recognition and Contextual Elements in Modern International Law]. – Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Pravo. 2016. No. 3. P. 36-49. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu14.2016.304

11. Grishin A.S. 20 let Mezhdunarodnomu tribunalu po byvshei Yugoslavii: itogi deyatel'nosti i perspektivy mezhdunarodnogo pravosudiya [20 Years of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: esults of its work and prospects of international justice]. – Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta im. N.I. Lobachevskogo. 2014. No. 1. P. 359-365. (In Russ.)

12. Henckaerts J.-M., Doswald-Beck L. Customary international humanitarian law. Vol. 1: rules. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005. 676 р. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804700

13. Jiri T. Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict: A Commentary on the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (Russ. ed.: Jiri T. Zashchita kul'turnykh tsennostei v sluchae vooruzhennogo konflikta: kommentarii k Konventsii o zashchite kul'turnykh tsennostei v sluchae vooruzhennogo konflikta. Moscow: UNESCO Publ. 2005. 542 p.)

14. Kotlyarov I.I. Mezhdunarodno-pravovoe regulirovanie vooruzhennykh konfliktov (osnovnye teoreticheskie problemy i praktika): monografiya [International legal regulation of armed conflicts (main theoretical problems and practice): a monograph]. Moscow: Yurlitinform Publ. 2013. 504 p. (In Russ.)

15. Lipnikov A.S. Mezhdunarodno-pravovoe regulirovanie okhrany kul'turnykh tsennostei vo vremya vooruzhennogo konflikta [International legal regulation of the protection of cultural property during an armed conflict]. – Moscow Journal of International Law. 1999. No. 2. P. 291-300. (In Russ.)

16. Mahnad P. Protecting cultural property in Syria: New opportunities for States to enhance compliance with international law? – International Review of the Red Cross. 2017. Vol. 99. No. 906. Р. 1037-1074. DOI: doi:10.1017/S1816383118000322

17. Martens F. Vostochnaya voina i Bryussel'skaya konferentsiya. 1874–1878 g. [The Eastern War and the Brussels Conference. 1874–1878]. Saint-Petersburg. 1879. 596 p. (In Russ.)

18. Marusin I.S. Razgranichenie yurisdiktsii Mezhdunarodnogo ugolovnogo suda i vnutrigosudarstvennykh sudebnykh organov [Delimitation of jurisdiction between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and national courts]. – Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Pravo. 2014. No. 4. P. 199-207. (In Russ.)

19. Molchanov S.N. Ob ispol'zovanii ponyatii “kul'turnye tsennosti” i “kul'turnoe nasledie (dostoyanie)” v mezhdunarodnom prave (informatsionno-analiticheskii obzor) [On the use of the concepts of «cultural values» and «cultural heritage (property)» in international law (information and analytical review)]. – Moscow Journal of International Law. 2000. No. 2. P. 20-27. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.24833/0869-0049-2000-2-20-27

20. O'Keefe R. The Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2009. 405 р. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511494260

21. Puzyreva Yu.V. Istoriko-pravovye aspekty stanovleniya i razvitiya printsipa zashchity grazhdanskikh ob"ektov v period vooruzhennykh konfliktov [Historical and Legal Aspects of Formation and Development of the Principle of Protection of Civilian Objects in Armed Conflicts]. – Moscow Journal of International Law. 2012. No. 1. P. 89-110. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.24833/0869-0049-2012-1-89-110

22. Puzyreva Yu.V. Mezhdunarodno-pravovye osnovy zashchity grazhdanskikh ob"ektov v period vooruzhennykh konfliktov: monografiya [International legal framework for the protection of civilian objects during armed conflicts. A monograph]. Moscow: INFRA-M Publ. 2023. 150 p. (In Russ.)

23. Schabas W. Genocide in international law: the crimes of crimes. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2009. 624 р. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511575556

24. Solis G. The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2021. 850 р. DOI:10.1017/9781108917797