1) ICOM and BLUE SHIELD
On
August 11, ICOM has written a letter of concern to ICOM Georgia and the
Georgian Museums Association, in which they were informed that the Disaster
Relief Task Force is on pre alert and ready to assist if necessary.
BLUE SHIELD
(ANCBS) has published a statement, too. It reminds that „both Georgia and Russia are State Parties to the Convention
and its First Protocol and are obliged to implement its obligations”.
2) ICOM National Committees
Several national committees have sent letters of concern and support to the ICOM National Committee of Georgia
and urged ICOM and BLUE SHIELD to take action.
3) ICOM “Disaster Relief for Museums” Task Force
“Disaster Relief for Museums” Task Force is the ICOM body
in charge of such situations.
Our Task Force was called on pre alert on Monday morning,
August 11.
In a first step we attempt to collect and check the contact
data of all potential partners (ICOM National Committee, National Association
of Museums, Ministry of Culture, Blue Shield partners etc.) as well as to identify
all museums situated in the affected region. We distributed our first report
containing this information late on the evening of August 11.
This quick reaction was mainly due to a very good website of
ICOM Georgia and the Georgian Association of Museums. http://www.georgianmuseums.ge
Probably due to cyber attacks this website was not
permanently available; therefore our Task Force has saved the pages containing
the detailed information on museums on another server.
We have contacted ICOM Georgia as well as ICOM Russia
several times in order to update our information. We thank ICOM Georgia for
their very quick and precise reactions.
We also continue to share all our information within the
Blue Shield network (archives, libraries, monuments) and the new Blue Shield
(ANCBS) office in The Hague.
As soon as we have precise information we will share it with
all ICOM members and call for support for museums in South Ossetia and Gori. We
will maintain a special temporary domain you may bookmark and visit later on:
<http://georgia.drfm.info>
During the past several days many concerned ICOM members
have asked our Task Force : „What can we do?”
Well, you can do something! Close public attention is a very
good shield for cultural heritage. No nation
wants their military forces to be publicly blamed for damage to cultural
property or not preventing its looting.
As an ICOM member you may show your international solidarity
by sending messages of concern and support to your colleagues – and later on
you may participate in ICOM relief activities our Task Force may propose (see
later on this website).
While
warfare has historically threatened museums and other cultural property, the
past twenty years have shown that damage from active combat is less a threat
than the aftermath of conflict, when damage has most often been caused by
looting, public disorder, and lack of trained staff. We do not yet know the
exact situation of the museums in and around Gori, but it is obvious that they
remained unprotected for several days after the battle.
ICOM has very few means to intervene as long as conflict is
ongoing. But ICOM as an international organisation (together with BLUE SHIELD) can
help to prevent and reduce unnecessary post battle damage. A national committee
may help by drawing the attention of its national military to the protection of
cultural heritage in post conflict situations, whether they act abroad as an
occupying force or as a peacekeeping mission.
General:
Disaster Relief for Museums website: http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/
Task Force members: http://icom.museum/task_disaster.html
Reporting form for damaged museums: http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/form.html
Georgia:
Georgian museums: http://www.georgianmuseums.ge
DRFM special page: http://georgia.drfm.info
DRFM standard page (not yet available): http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/georgia.html
