On The International Law Protection Of Cultural Property In Armed Conflict

In armed conflicts,there are often strikes against enemy facilities and looting of wealth,and cultural property is easily damaged in the process.Cultural property is not only the property of a certain region or nation,but also the crystallization of wisdom and civilization that is of common significance to all mankind,and therefore all subjects of international law have the obligation to protect cultural property in armed conflicts.After World War II,the international community gradually realized that cultural property could easily become the target of attacks in armed conflicts,and therefore proceeded to construct a series of international law systems for the protection of cultural property.However,these rules seem to be comprehensive,but in practice they have not prevented belligerents from destroying cultural property.This reveals that international law has certain shortcomings.Second,the International Criminal Court’s trial of the Mahdi case also revealed the flaws in the current rules of international criminal justice,as the court interpreted war crimes in a broad sense before finding that the Mahdi’s attack on cultural property constituted a war crime.This precisely illustrates the current lack of a separate criminalization of the crime of attacking and destroying cultural property in the context of armed conflict.This thesis summarizes the shortcomings in the rules of international law and implementation measures,and tries to find a path to improve the relevant international law mechanisms.At the level of international law rules,it should be clarified that non-parties to an armed conflict should also assume the obligation to protect cultural property.In improving the accountability mechanism for serious destruction of cultural property in armed conflict,this thesis proposes the idea of establishing a separate crime of intentional destruction of cultural property for the criminal act of destruction of cultural property in armed conflict.At the same time different international subjects should also bear the corresponding obligations.States,which bear the main obligation to protect cultural property in armed conflicts,should take the initiative to improve domestic legislation and actively accede to relevant international conventions,while strengthening the monitoring role of relevant international organizations.