Kent’s Centre for Heritage will explore the protection of cultural property in times of conflict with a panel of three experts during a webinar on Thursday 27 May.
Using case studies from the US, France and the Al Mahdi Case, panellists will explore how military manuals contribute to the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. They will also consider the question of reparation.
The webinar, which begins at 18.00 BST, has been organised by Dr Sophie Vigneron, Co-Director of the Centre for Heritage, together with three Kent Law School LLM students: Zeba Farah Haque, Mathieu Boudry and Valentine Granet.
Contributions include:
- ‘US Implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention and the Blue Shield Movement’ by Professor Patty Gerstenblith,Distinguished Research Professor of Law at DePaul University. Professor Gerstenblith, will discuss the implementation of the Convention through the adoption of the 2016 Department of Defense Law of War Manual and the role of different stakeholders in the protection of cultural property in the USA
- ‘Implementing military measures of the 1954 Hague Convention: French military operations and cultural property protection’ by Captain Timothée Le Berre, Deputy Director of the French Army Heritage. Captain Le Berre will present the French military manual adopted in 2015 on the protection of cultural property as well as the practice of deploying military curators in military operations, in Mali and the Central African Republic
- ‘The aftermath of the destruction of cultural heritage in war: the reparations of the Al Mahdi case and its monumental challenges’ by Dr Marina Lostal, Senior Lecturer, University of Essex, School of Law. Dr Lostal will examine the impact of the destruction of cultural property during conflict and the reparation that might be due after such destruction, using the case of Al Mahdi and the destruction of heritage sites in Timbuktu in Mali, as an example.
For more details about each speaker, an abstract of their presentation, and a link to register, visit our Event Calendar.
The Centre for Heritage at Kent is an interdisciplinary centre that brings together researchers who contribute to the identification, preservation, and better understanding of heritage to address political, economic, social, educational, and environmental threats. The Centre spans all disciplines to create a space of collaboration to develop new models and tools, including digital ones to modernise and energise the field.
Image caption: Captain Timothée Le Berre talking with the local person responsible for the heritage in Mali. Copyright: French Ministere des Armees