Protecting the past for the future: How does law protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage in armed conflict?

Go to the author page Christiane Johannot-Gradis

This article is also available in

In war, individuals are vulnerable not only physically but also in terms of their cultural identity, and the obliteration of cultural heritage often becomes a central issue. This is particularly the case in armed conflicts with an ethnic, cultural or religious character. In some regions, cultural heritage consists more of monuments and objects; it is a "tangible" heritage, mostly protected by the law of armed conflict.

Download PDF

Continue reading #IRRC No. 900

All articles

Protecting the past for the future: How does law protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage in armed conflict? author: Christiane Johannot-Gradis

9 min read

The danger of “new norms” and the continuing relevance of IHL in the post-9/11 era author: Anna Di Lellio, Emanuele Castano

7 min read

Reconciling the rules of international humanitarian law with the rules of European human rights law author: Claire Landais, Léa Bass

7 min read

Factors shaping the legal implications of increasingly autonomous military systems author: Tim McFarland

10 min read

The future of warfare: Are we ready? author: Randolph Kent

15 min read

Interview with Balthasar Staehelin author: Balthasar Staehelin

2 min read

Resolutions of the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent author:

10 min read

International humanitarian law and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts, 2015 author:

30 min read

Book review: Military Self-Interest in Accountability for Core International Crimes author: William J. Fenrick

1 min read

Book review: Identifying the Enemy: Civilian Participation in Armed Conflict author: Ellen Policinski

1 min read

New publications in humanitarian (Autumn 2016) author:

3 min read

Go back to the first article

More about Conduct of hostilities, Cultural property, International Review of the Red Cross

article IRRC No. 913 Mar 2021

The application of the principle of distinction in the cyber context: A Chinese perspective author: Zhixiong Huang, Yaohui Ying

56 min read

article IRRC No. 912 Nov 2019

The notion of “acts harmful to the enemy” under international humanitarian law author: Robert Kolb, Fumiko Nakashima

52 min read