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PCBS The Polish Committee 
The Polish Committee http://www.mk.gov.pl/pcbs |
Dariusz
Drewniacki
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE FOR CIVIL AND CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION IN CRACOW AS A FORM OF DISSEMINATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW.
Introduction Answering the question: "what ones protect monuments for?" we say: "for good of us all", because even being in somebody's own possession, they belong to all of us as a cultural property. Because of loss of cultural heritage, suffer not only a nation at which territory is waging a war, but also, all of us become poorer, at the very moment of annihilation of monuments. The Preamble to the Hague Convention from 1954 regarding Protection of Cultural Property in Case of Armed Conflicts explains this problem univocally: "damage done to cultural property belonging to any nation is the same as damage to cultural heritage of mankind because each state take part in shaping world's culture". Any person who learns a foreign language becomes even more aware of the richness and quality of his or her own language. In the same way, exposure to the diversity of human cultures allows us to appreciate even more the qualities of our own traditions and share our common humanity with us whose history differs from our own. Consider the reaction of a Croatian journalist to the destruction of the Mostar bridge: "Why do we feel more pain looking at the image of the destroyed bridge than the image of the massacred people? Perhaps because we see our own mortality in the collapse of the bridge. We expect people to die; we count on our lives at end. The destruction of a monument to civilisation is something else. The bridge, in all its beauty and grace, was built to outlive us; it was an attempt to grasp eternity. It transcended our individual destiny".
1. Legal obligations in the scope of dissemination the rules on protection of cultural property.
Dissemination of knowledge of humanitarian law whether in times of armed violence or preventively in peacetime is a necessary precondition for respect of this law. A law unknown or not understood cannot and will not be respected. Most of states are aware of the general provisions of humanitarian law establishing the legal obligation for States to disseminate humanitarian law as widely as possible. The obligations of states in this field applies not only in times of armed conflict, but already preventively in times of peace. What is more, the obligation applies not only to military, but also to the civil society. States are obliged under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols to include the study of humanitarian law within the programmes of military and, where possible, civilian education, so that these principles may become known to the population as a whole. (Art. 47/48/127/144 common to four Geneva Conventions). Art. 25 of the Hague Convention from 1954 states that: "The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of peace as in time of armed conflict, to disseminate the text of the present Convention and the Regulation for its execution as widely as possible in their respective countries. They undertake, in particular, to include the study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civilian training, so that its principles are made known to the whole population, especially the armed forces and personnel engaged in the protection of cultural property." Art.30 of Second Protocol to the Hague Convention from 1954 also states about the obligation to disseminate rules of protection of cultural property. 2. Elements of the system for protection of cultural property Regardless of all unknown factors the measures that should be undertaken in peacetime include: - providing the complete as possible documentation on all protected cultural monuments, - carrying out organisational preparations that will enable taking of actions in emergencies. - educating and preparing personnel for required actions in emergencies, The mentioned activities should be carried out by the conservation service in co-operation with the executive authority and citizens. Documentation of cultural heritage Documentary evidence is the precondition for the protection, and particularly, for the preservation of cultural heritage. This precondition is important in time of peace but its significance is much greater when heritage is threatened by armed conflict. If we do not succeed in fully protecting a monument from ravages of war the documentation will enable us to renew the damaged monuments or claim the pillaged goods. The documentation made public in time of peace will serve as a means of acquainting the broader public with the significance and value of the specific heritage. The documentation pertains to and raise the level of responsibility of every individual towards its preservation. Given that the documentation itself can be at risk in circumstances of armed conflict, it is necessary to implement corresponding measures of protection (microfilming, digitalisation and storage at various locations). Organisational preparations for extraordinary circumstances In peacetime there is a need to carry out organisational preparations in order to apply special measures and procedures in emergency situations. Training in procedures to be applies in emergency The human factor is decisive in the successful preservation of heritage in peacetime, and indispensable in time of armed conflict. For that reasons adequate education and training is of pivotal importance for the timely and effective implementation of protection and preservation measures in extraordinary circumstances. Education and training should aim at: - providing experts in conservation services for implementing the full range of protection measures on cultural monuments (evacuation, technical protection, etc.), - preparing officers and soldiers to follow procedures compliant with international regulations and laws of war, and particularly to restrain from any actions that could jeopardise cultural heritage, - preparing customs officers and border police staff for preventing the illegal export of art objects and cultural goods, - preparing tradesman and entrepreneurs for activities linked to the implementation of measures of protecting cultural heritage in extraordinary circumstances, - acquainting state and local government officials with procedures in the event of emergency, - training citizens, legal persons and particularly owners of art objects and monuments for protecting objects of art and collections in their ownership, - preparing specialised associations (ICOMOS, ICOM etc.) for co-operation in the implementation of measures for the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. In the course of training it is important to encompass all the mentioned groups since otherwise it will not be possible to effectively implement - due to its scope and variety - the measures of protecting and preserving cultural heritage in extraordinary circumstances.
3. The International Training Centre for Civil and Cultural Property Protection in Cracow
History Protection of Cultural Property in Poland is one of the most important tasks carried out by the Civil Defence. It was on its initiative that the NATO Headquarters were presented with the Polish proposal to organise an international conference on Cultural Heritage Protection in Wartime and in State of Emergency. The conference was held in June 1996 in Cracow as a part of the Partnership for Peace programme. Poland was the first to suggest that NATO should bring the issue of cultural property protection into discussion on its forum. During the conference discussions the Polish side tabled the initiative of creating the international training centre for central and eastern European countries to provide instruction for both civilians and the military members responsible for the protection of cultural property in case of emergency. The initiative was welcomed by all participants of the conference i.e. by representatives of 15 states, international and non-governmental organisations. In 1997. the Minister of Culture and Arts turned to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, suggesting that an international training centre should be founded. The Chief of National Civil Defence has accepted the responsibility for creating the training centre and - in contact with the head of the National Fire Department - he has decided that the Centre will be located in the Postgraduate Firemen's Academy in Cracow where are we now. The first training session was held from 24 to 29 of November 1997. It was participated by 27 persons, including employees of vivoideship units of the National Service of Monuments' Protection, who deal with cultural property protection in case of emergency, and defence specialists from cultural units supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Arts. On the basis of the statement accepted by participants of the International Workshop on the Protection of Cultural Property in the emergency held in May 2001 in Cracow, the Centre of Training was turned into the International Centre of Training. The organisers invited UNESCO to take patronage over the Centre. The above mentioned statement is enclosed to your conference file. By now the Centre trained over 500 persons. Programme of the Training Centre for Civil and Cultural Protection One of the main task of the Centre, apart from training in the field of civil protection is promoting and dissemination of knowledge also training specialists dealing with protection of cultural property in case of emergency in times of war and peace. The Centre takes in the following activities: - organising courses on the protection of cultural property in the event of emergency, - organising international conferences, workshops and seminars for experts, - promoting exchange of experience between circles dealing with the subject, - maintaining and developing close co-operation with international governmental organisations, academic institutions and all public institutions dealing with the subject of cultural property protection, - carrying out publication activities, - collecting professional literature and documentation, - initiating, supporting and participating in activities aim for influencing public opinion in order to increase interest in protection of monuments.
This year, the Programme Council of the Centre accepted the updated Training Programme within the scope of Protection of Cultural Property in Case of Emergency. The programme which was acknowledged by the Commander in Chief of National Fire Service and Civil Defence comprises of the following items: - basic knowledge about cultural heritage, - protection against fire and life-saving, - protection against criminality, - protection against natural and human imposed disasters, - protection in case of armed conflict, - professional training established according to requirements of ministries carrying out the programme. REALISATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS SCOPE OF EDUCATION
- the programme is carried out during five-day course - with total 40 hours, - 30% of the time is intended as a practical training, - 18 hours is intended as a professional training with regard to specially selected area, - course participants receive a certificate of participation. In the course of the programme a special attention is being focused on: - international legal standards on protection of cultural heritage in case of emergency, - implementing the Hague Convention regulations with reference to present armed conflicts, - participation of non-governmental organisations in execution of the Hague Convention - the Blue Shield programme, - the role of armed forces in protection of cultural property, - social aspect in protection of cultural property, - organisation of the system of protection cultural property in Poland in case of threats of armed conflict and in peace times, - the system of protection of cultural property on the example of selected institution of culture, - mastering cultural heritage of Poland, Europe and world. Participants The programme is intended for the following participants: - Representatives of the military, in accordance with their scope of duties resulting from international commitments; - Voivodeships and self-government conservator of monuments, - Directors of cultural institutions, libraries, museums and archives and their employees; - Administrators and owners of specially valuable cultural treasures; - Diocesan conservator of monuments, directors of museums and libraries owned by religious associations; - Honorary tenders of cultural property, as well as representatives of social and non-governmental organisations; - Defence specialists from museums, artistic schools, libraries and archives; - Representatives of the National Fire Service, Civil Defence, Customs and Border Services and the Police; - Directors and employees of Voivodeship Departments of Crisis Management Currently we are working on: - creating the international programme council, - programme assumptions for international courses, - the Centre Statute acceptation.
According to the draft of above mentioned Statute, participants of the Centre could become: - public and private institutions, organisations, committees engaged in idea of protection of cultural property, - universities and scientific institutions, - non-governmental organisations acting at the international level, - persons with special achievements in the field of protection of cultural property, - academic centres. The first international course is planned for October 2003.
Other forms of activity of the Centre Apart of training activities the Training Centre organises international symposiums and conferences. In May 2001, from the initiative of Polish Advisory Committee for teh Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict the International Workshop on the Protection of Cultural Property in Case of Emergency was held in Cracow. The Workshop was participated by 130 participants including 45 from abroad. The following services were represented: - the protection of the cultural heritage - rescuing and dealing with crisis management, - on preventing and fighting delinquency against cultural property In the Workshop took part representatives from 13 countries: Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Hungary. The programme of the Workshop included: - The main natural and civilised threats and losses in states of Central and East Europe, - Legislative and organisational international co- operation in the field of the protection of the cultural property, - States preventive measures to protect cultural heritage in case of emergency - Co-ordination of activities connected with the protection of the cultural heritage in case of natural disasters, and organised criminal activities. Next year in the frame of Euro - Baltic Programme is going to be held an international conference on the protection of cultural property in the event of emergency.
4. Conclusions Finishing my presentation I would like to repeat after Cycero: "law is silent when weapon clangs". Humanity made an important step forward from the time of Cycero but there is no doubts that these words are still in time, because the horror of wars continuously accompanies us and military technique develops enormously. Man tries to control using the weapon. We cannot forget that the best weapon is the one which limits access to it. The second kind of weapon is dissemination of humanitarian law.
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