September 30, 2008
AIA Calls for Hague Ratification
At its April 28, 2007, meeting, the Institute’s Governing Board passed the following resolution: “The AIA reaffirms its support for the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its First Protocol, and urges the United States government to ratify the same.” The Institute has called for the observance of the terms of the Hague Convention, for example in Iraq and during the conflict in northern Israel and Lebanon, but has not expressly called for U.S. ratification before now. In January 2007, the AIA’s Governing Board also voted to endorse the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization committed to the protection of cultural property during armed conflict. Separately, in mid-May 2007, the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, a nonprofit organization that promotes the preservation and protection of cultural heritage, also officially endorsed the Hague Convention and its First Protocol.
Hague Convention Ratified
The United States Senate voted on September 25, 2008, to give its advice and consent to ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The April 15, 2008, statement of the AIA, the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, the U.S. Committee for the Blue Shield, and others urging Senate ratification can be downloaded here.
