A crime against cultural heritage in the aspect of the intangible value of a monument
Judgement of the International Criminal Court from 27 September 2016 in the case of Prosecutor v. Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi, ICC-01/12-01/15
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/gsp.2021.2.16Keywords:
the intangible value of a monument, the spiritual heritage, the international communityAbstract
It is worthwhile to look at the present judgement in the aspect of the protection of the intangible value of monuments. The buildings destroyed by Ahmad al Mahdi represented intangible values decipherable and comprehensible to the people of Timbuktu and Mali, and to the international community alike. Their destruction resulted in the obliteration of not only monuments of tangible nature, but also of intangible monuments which are expressed in religion and rituals; in consequence, it was a crime that undermined the expression of identity of a specific social group. Therefore, the intangible value of monuments, underlined in the case being analysed, is not only expressed through its artistic or historic value, but it also consists of the spiritual heritage connected to the destroyed religious buildings.
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References
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