Ambassador Andreas Hadjichrysanthou, the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN, called on all member states of the international organisation to consider acceding to the Nicosia Convention, in an effort to strengthen the fight against illicit cultural trafficking.
The Ambassador was addressing on Monday, December 6, the Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly, which adopted unanimously a resolution entitled “Return or Restoration of the Political Heritage to their Countries of Origin.” The resolution was proposed by Greece and co-sponsored by a number of Member States, including Cyprus.
“Cyprus has always sought to contribute effectively to international efforts on combatting illicit trafficking and ensuring the repatriation of cultural property and it is for this reason that Cyprus took the lead in concluding the Nicosia Convention, a unique universal mechanism to protect the common cultural heritage of humanity and the only international treaty aiming to prevent and combat cultural property crimes by providing for their criminalization” the Ambassador explained, according to an official press release.
“The Nicosia Convention can be instrumental in international efforts to address legal gaps with regards to the prevention and prosecution of trafficking in cultural property. We invite all UN Member States to consider acceding to the Convention,” Hadjichrysanthou underlined.
During his intervention, Ambassador Hadjichrysanthou stated that the protection of cultural property has long been a priority for Cyprus, given its rich historical, cultural and religious heritage as well as the loss of a very significant amount of our cultural property since well before our independence as a state.
The pillaging of and illicit trafficking in cultural property has always had epidemic proportions, Ambassador Hadjichrysanthou went on, explaining that much like trafficking in arms or drugs, illicit trafficking of cultural property now constitutes a global industry.
“The growing dimensions of this crime compel us to redouble our efforts to combat it, both within and between states, both in armed conflicts and in times of peace. Whether or not the countries succeed in better protecting cultural property depends on wide-reaching changes in attitudes. Illicit trafficking in cultural property is a crime against all of us, not just the specific civilization or country whose heritage is vandalized,” he stressed.
He noted that as a long-time victim of having incredibly large numbers of artifacts of historical, archaeological and religious significance pillaged and stolen, Cyprus has been struggling for many years to trace and repatriate its cultural property. In the last four decades alone, more than 60,000 cultural and religious objects of immense historical value have been looted from Cyprus’ Turkish-occupied areas and sold in black markets all over the world, he added, pointing that under international law, the responsibility for their return rests with the occupying power.
“While we remain dedicated in locating and repatriating our stolen treasures, this is not a battle we can fight alone and we continue to rely on the efforts of other states and on robust international cooperation,” Hadjichrysanthou stressed.
The Ambassador noted that UN Security Council Resolution 2347, adopted unanimously in March 2017, was a historic milestone in the international efforts to protect cultural heritage and expressed hope that the Council will build on this important resolution. He referred, finally to a landmark decision of the International Criminal Court in the Al Mahdi case, in 2016, which he said, paves the way for more efficient enforcement of international justice with respect to cultural heritage crimes.
The destruction of cultural heritage and the illicit trafficking of cultural property not only impair the preservation of collective history and the safeguarding of cultural identity, but hinder the realization of economic, political and social rights and the development of a global civic society, he concluded.
SOURCE: CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY