From the Ashes: Guarantees of Non-Recurrence for Destruction of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Because cultural heritage is a significant aspect of identity, it is often targeted during conflict or periods of repression. The danger may diminish with peace or transition, but it does not evaporate. Heritage is inherently contentious post bellum, so communities fear for the ongoing safety of their heritage, either because conflict might recur or because past patterns of cultural chauvinism or neglect might be repeated. The material integrity of heritage has gradually become a matter of concern for transitional justice. It has long been a maxim of transitional justice that dealing with the past implies preventing in the future. There is a need for regulatory schema and administrative structures serving the goal of preserving and protecting the tangible cultural riches of the state and/or communities of origin from the lingering threats that the politics of power might again be played out over heritage. Guarantees of non-recurrence (GNR) offer both an ethos and a framework in which to prioritize and think through this work of protection, conservation, and safeguarding. This article argues that the World Heritage Convention, notwithstanding its circumscribed emphasis on material and places of outstanding universal value, is nevertheless applicable to all heritage to which a GNR might be attached and provides an achievable “good enough” practice model, provided there is a threshold level of domestic political will.