Decision 41 COM 7A.49

Site of Palmyra (Syrian Arab Republic) (C 23)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 38 COM 7A.12, 39 COM 7A.36 and 40 COM 7A.17, adopted at its 38th (Doha, 2014), 39th (Bonn, 2015) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions respectively,
3. Taking into account Decision 41 COM 7A.50 on the World Heritage properties of the Syrian Arab Republic,
4. Condemns the additional deliberate acts of destructions at the property and deplores the considerable damage to the attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
5. Encourages the State Party to implement the recommendations of the UNESCO technical assistance workshop, and in particular:
   1. Gather all documentation available to understand previous restoration works carried out at the property,
   2. Conduct a sound structural diagnosis for the remaining structures,
   3. Shore the Portico of the Temple of Bel and remove the unstable upper stones at the Arch of Triumph according to structural evaluations;
6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to limit restoration works to first aid interventions until the security situation improves and allows conducting detailed studies and extensive field work, and also discussions on defining optimal approaches;
7. Requests the State Party to invite of a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission to proceed to a comprehensive assessment of the state of conservation of the property and identify measures needed to reverse the decay and ensure the conservation and protection of the property, as soon as the security situation allows;
8. Calls on all UNESCO Member States to support emergency safeguarding measures, including through the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund;
9. Notes with satisfaction that the State Party is preparing minor boundary modification proposal, and encourages it to submit the proposal by 1 February 2018, for review by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018;
10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2018, 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 42nd session in 2018;
11. Decides to retain Site of Palmyra (Syrian Arab Republic) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.