Dear ARLIS/NA and ARLIS-L Subscribers,
The following statement has been composed by members of the Public
Policy Committee, and edited by members of the Executive Board to
represent the Society's formal response to recent events in Iraq. The
Board approved this resolution via e-mail by a majority, although not a
unanimous vote. Further, on behalf of the Board, I commend the Public
Policy Committee for its timely and appropriate acknowledgement of
ARLIS/NA's particular interests in safeguarding libraries and other
cultural property during wartime. On behalf of the Society, a special
thanks to Public Policy Committee member, Timothy Shipe, this document's
primary author.
Resolution of the Art Libraries Society of North America Concerning the
Impact of the War in Iraq
As artists from Goya to Grosz have shown us, war inevitably leads to
human suffering: economic devastation, environmental damage, destruction
of cultural treasures, and above all, loss of human life. Like any war,
the 2003 invasion of Iraq has had all of these effects. While no other
"disaster of war" can be meaningfully measured against the loss of a
single life, the enormous damage that has been inflicted on Iraq's most
significant cultural properties is unique in our time. As one of the
cradles of Western civilization, Iraq's cultural treasures were a
crucial part of the heritage not only of Iraq, but of all Humanity.
As members of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA),
representing nearly 1,000 art librarians and related organizations in
the United States, Canada, Mexico, and overseas, we are deeply troubled
by the recent actions of the United States in Iraq.
As human beings, we grieve for the thousands of lives lost in the allied
invasion. While the precise number of casualties is as yet unknown, we
are sobered to realize that this number certainly exceeds by many times
the total membership of ARLIS/NA.
As art librarians, we are dismayed at the unimaginable destruction of
Iraq's cultural heritage, a heritage which was also that of many of the
world's civilizations, including our own. This destruction was made
possible by the military action against Iraq and the consequent collapse
of civil order, and was further enabled by the inexcusable negligence of
the military in permitting treasures such as the National Museum and the
National Library to be looted and burned. Thus, the United States bears
at least partial, if not primary responsibility for the destruction of
these precious cultural assets.
This negligence on the part of U.S. forces (negligence which prompted
members of the President's Advisory Committee on Cultural Property to
resign recently) is a clear violation of the 1954 Hague Convention for
the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,
which, among other things, requires parties to a conflict to "prohibit,
prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or
misappropriation of, and any acts of vandalism directed against,
cultural property" (Chapter I, Article 4). The United States has signed,
but has not yet ratified, the Hague Convention. However, in 1999 the
President of the United States, in submitting that document to the
Senate for ratification, stated that "United States military policy and
the conduct of operations are entirely consistent with the Convention's
provisions." The events of the past month belie that assertion.
The recent loss of irreplaceable art works, artifacts, and documents
attesting to 7,000 years of Mesopotamian and Iraqi history and
civilization is the most devastating destruction of a cultural heritage
since the Second World War, and is fully comparable to the burning of
the library at Alexandria. While most of this loss is irretrievable,
steps can and must be taken to prevent further loss of cultural
treasures, and to recover Iraqi cultural properties that were stolen
rather than destroyed. We understand that the record of Saddam
Hussein's regime with respect to the protection of cultural properties
may have been questionable; the brutality of that regime is
indisputable. However, we hope the United States will hold itself to
higher standards in its protection of Iraq's remaining treasures and in
the efforts to recover those that have been stolen.
Accordingly, ARLIS/NA urges the United States to follow its stated
policy of respecting the terms of the 1954 Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its
Protocol, including especially Chapter I, Article 4 of the Convention.
We also urge the United States Senate to immediately ratify the Hague
Convention.
Respectfully submitted by the Public Policy Committee and the Executive
Board of
The Art Libraries Society of North America
Allen K. Townsend, President, ARLIS/NA
Librarian
Amon Carter Museum
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
Phone: 817 989 5073
Fax: 817 989 5079
All opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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