UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

THIRTEEN GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES TO THE
CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION
OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, Room XII
30 –31 October, 2001

Resolution on the protection of the cultural heritage of Afghanistan adopted by the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention at its Thirteenth session (Paris, 30-31 October 2001)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Recalling the invitation of the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 161st session to the World Heritage Committee to identify the means of ensuring better protection of the common heritage of humanity;

Noting the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague, 1954) and its Protocols, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970), the World Heritage Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), the UNIDROIT Convention and other relevant international legal instruments;

Appreciating the attempts made by the Director-General of UNESCO, UNESCO Member States and various organizations and individuals to convince the Taliban forces to protect the cultural heritage of Afghanistan;

Condemns the wilful destruction of the cultural heritage of Afghanistan by the Taliban forces, particularly the statues of Bamiyan, as "crime against the common heritage of humanity";

Appeals to all States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to become signatories to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, its Protocols, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the UNIDROIT Convention and other international legal instruments protecting cultural heritage, if they have not yet done so;

Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to inform the World Heritage Committee, at its twenty-fifth session, on the chronology of events related to the nomination for inclusion on the World Heritage List of the statues of Bamiyan and other Afghan cultural heritage properties by the Government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan currently in exile;

Invites the World Heritage Committee, at its twenty-fifth session, to consider:

1. ways and means by which the implementation of the World Heritage Convention can be reinforced, especially in relation to the other relevant UNESCO Conventions for the protection of cultural heritage;

2. measures for enhancing the promotion of education, awareness raising activities and communication concerning the irreplaceable values of the cultural heritage of humanity;

3. improved mechanisms for promoting the scientific documentation of potential and existing world cultural heritage properties;

Invites States Parties to inform the World Heritage Committee, at its twenty-fifth session, on any steps they have taken to protect the cultural heritage of Afghanistan;

Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations when the common heritage of humanity is threatened with wilful destruction so that he/she may propose necessary actions to protect this heritage.