Research Of International Law On The Protection Of Cultural Property In Armed Conflicts

Cultural property,the main external form includes religious,cultural or historic architecture,art,it was the old traces of different nationalities in the world,because of human wisdom and sweat,it helps to strengthen the understanding between different countries,promote the unity of various nationalities.the category of the protection of cultural property in Armed conflicts should be attributed to international humanitarian law,but throughout the development history of international humanitarian law,cultural property protection problems are often ignored,experts and scholars are willing to put their energy into researching the protection of life safety.The safety of human life is definitely important,but as the situation of the destruction of cultural property in armed conflicts is getting worse in recent years,the protection of cultural property must be taken seriously by the international community.Because armed conflicts usually involve the relationship between countries,they are adjusted by rules of international law,this article mainly discusses the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts by international law,trying to find problems in the development of the international law protection,so as to put forward some Suggestions.The first chapter expounds two important concepts of "cultural property" and "armed conflicts",which is closely related to the theme of this article.cultural property is mainly refers to a property that is of great significance to a naton,includes movable and immovable property,such as construction(s),works of art,the archaeologicalitems and the building which is used to save or display those things,such as museums,libraries and archives.The definitions of "cultural property" in current international treaty are basically referred to historic and artistic,historic of "cultural property" embodied in raising the nation's cultural identity,artistic of "cultural property" embodied in scientific research value."Armed conflicts" is a concept proposed after the world war II,and the early international treaties usually used the concept of "war".In 1945,the charter of the United Nations not only prohibited war,but also banned the use of force or threat of force by member states.The concept of "armed conflicts" came into being after that."Armed conflicts" can be divided into "international armed conflicts" and "non-international armed conflicts".The main difference is whether armed conflicts occured within a country or within a country's sovereignty.Clarifying the concept is the premise of further research,so this chapter has sorted out the basic connotations of the two concepts so as to facilitate the following research.The second chapter first lists the relevant international law of cultural property protection in international armed conflicts,from the Lieber Code in 1863 and the Roerich pact in 1935 to the Hague convention in 1954 and the Second Protocol in1999.Early rules of international law about the protection of cultural property is more of some sporadic regulations,and their applicable scope are relatively narrow,such as the Lieber Code only protect churches,hospitals,universities,museums and other public cultural property,other general public cultural property is not protected,and the Lieber Code only applies to the United States,because it is a set of rules of the American civil war.the Hague convention in 1954 is the first international convention which dedicates to protect cultural property in armed conflicts,it has 40 clauses,stipulated the general principles and specific measures of protection of cultural property in armed conflict,etc.It is a international treaty that is relatively complete and suitable for most countries.Then focuses on the three forms of cultural property protection: the general protection and special protection and key protection,the Hague convention rules state general protection should be applicable when the cultural property has great significance for the nation or the people of their own coutry,as wellas the buildings of saving or displaying the cultural property.Special protection,on the basis of meeting the conditions of general protection,increases the need for cultural property to be "away from the great industrial zones and vulnerable places" and "cannot be used for military purposes".Key protection is proposed by the Second Protocol in 1999,its purpose is to correct the shortage of special protection,such as cancelled the limit of cultural property must be "away from big industrial zone and vulnerable places",and simplifies the protection application program.Finally introducing the exception of cultural property protection in armed conflicts: military necessity principle,and analyzing the controversy of military necessary principle by interpreting the Hague convention in 1954 and the Second Protocol in 1999.The third chapter takes the importance of cultural property protection in non-international armed conflict as a breakthrough point,shows that the international armed conflicts on a large scale rarely occurred after the world war II,non-international armed conflicts occurred frequently in the different forms however,it is a serious threat to the protection of cultural property,so research on the protection of cultural property in non-international armed conflicts has the necessity and urgency.Then lists the common article 3 of the Geneva Convention in 1949,the Hague Convention in 1954 and the Second Protocol in 1999,and other international treaties,the common article 3 of Geneva Conventions in 1949 although is not directly involved in the protection of the cultural property,but it was the first time that taking non-international armed conflicts into constraint of the international treaty;the Hague Convention in 1954 was the first international convention to protect cultural property in armed conflicts,which stipulated the general principles and specific measures of cultural property protection.The Second Protocol in 1999 is the further development of the Hague Convention in 1954,fixed the shortages of the latter,applying all its terms to international and non-international armed conflicts equally.The last of this chapter points out the cultural property protection in non-international armed conflicts has some problems in the practice,such as the concept of "non-international armed conflicts" is ill-defined,the imperfection of the relevant rules of international law,etc.The fourth chapter makes some Suggestions according to the problemsmentioned in chapter 2 and chapter 3.For the controversial issue on the two concept of "non-international armed conflict" and "military necessity principle",can be solved through further clarify its definition,such as do not regard "occurred in a country's territory" as the only standard to define "non-international armed conflict".As for the relevant international treaties are not specific enough,might be solved by perfecting the relevant provisions,for example,the Hague Convention in 1954 and the Second Protocol in 1999,both of them mentioned the UNESCO can offer services for the parties of armed conflicts,but did not specify how to offer.It is possible to define the rights of UNESCO and the obligations of the conflict parties to make the provisions clearer and more specific.There is a large number of states being the parties of the convention on cultural property protection,so that it is difficult to take into consideration the interests of all countries.encouraging the conflict parties conclude bilateral or multilateral treaties in the framework of international treaties to clear the rights and obligations,the analysis of the Paris Convention in 1970 and taking China request Japan return of cultural properties looted from China during the World War II for example,to explain its feasibility.Finally called on the international community to strengthen supervision over cultural property protection in armed conflicts,ensuring the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization playing the flexible role and the UN Security Council playing the hard role,to ensure that the cultural property protection convention in armed conflict can be fully and effectively performed.