Footnote 6 The cultural heritage in Syria has been profoundly involved in the conflict since the beginning, when the eighth-century al-Omari mosque was shelled. Although the generally accepted start date is 15 March 2011, “armed conflict” -the point at which a conflict moves beyond an internal disturbance and IHL becomes applicable-was not officially declared until June 2012. The conflict in Syria has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, and the damage and destruction of the country’s cultural heritage. As such it manifests a nearly pure expression of the notion of “crimes against humanity” for all of humanity is indeed injured by the destruction. When perpetrated with the requisite discriminatory intent, amounts to an attack on the very religious identity of the people. The violation of this core obligation constitutes a war crime, and, under certain circumstances, its destruction may even amount to crimes against humanity, as explained by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: ![]() However, international humanitarian law (IHL), which is the body of international law that regulates the conduct of armed conflict and seeks to limit its effects, protecting people who are not part of the hostilities, binds those involved in a conflict to respect cultural property and promote its protection. In contrast, it is sometimes argued that the targeting of sites and monuments is irrelevant, given the other extensive human rights abuses that often accompany it. Footnote 3 Cultural protection, on the other hand, is increasingly linked to the recovery of psychological trauma and peace building during and after conflict, in addition to the economic tourism benefits it can provide. Footnote 2 Furthermore, it is linked to cultural cleansing-the removal of communities by eliminating their presence in the landscape, leaving them with no “home” to return to, should such an event become possible. While cultural heritage is threatened during peacetime, the severest damage takes place during social disorder and conflict, not only resulting in the loss of something unique and irreplaceable but also psychologically affecting the communities linked to it Footnote 1 and potentially causing increased violence. The destruction and protection of cultural heritage in armed conflicts has been a feature of war for thousands of years and has received increasing international focus over the last two decades.
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