Decision 40 COM 7A.10

Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) (Iraq) (C 1130)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7A,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7A.25, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Encourages the State Party to pursue its efforts to ensure the protection of the property, despite the impossibility to access it;
4. Expresses its great concern about the absence of information on the state of conservation of the property and requests the State Party to keep the World Heritage Centre informed of the evolution of the situation on the ground;
5. Calls upon all the UNESCO Member States to comply with the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention 1954 and the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970, and to cooperate to fight the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage coming from Iraq, pursuant to Resolution 2199 of the United Nations Security Council, adopted in February 2015;
6. Also calls upon the international community to further support the safeguarding of Iraqi cultural heritage through earmarked funds;
7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in 2017;
8. Decides to retain Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) (Iraq) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.