UN CREATES TASK FORCE OF PEACEKEEPERS TO PROTECT ARTIFACTS AND HERITAGE SITES

Thanks to a UNESCO treaty signed yesterday, UN and Italian peacekeepers will soon be deployed to protect treasures and cultural artifacts worldwide, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The treaty, which takes effect immediately, combines Italian and UNESCO guards to create a task force charged with safeguarding endangered cultural objects and historical sites—not only from crises, conflicts, and natural catastrophes, but also from terrorists, as when ISIS targeted the Syrian city Palmyra in 2015.

Traveling to the affected countries to protect their endangered cultural monuments and treasures, this special force will be comprised of police as well as historians and conservators. The Italian Ministry of Culture reports that the team is “trained for dangerous situations”—and will evaluate damage, plan for restoration and preservation, and prevent looting.

Encouraging other countries to follow the Italian example, the head of UNESCO, Irina Bokowa, emphasized that the treaty is a first step in reaction to the “increasing threats to the cultural heritage” of the world.

The impetus for this decision was a series of recent incidents including ISIS’s destruction of historical sites in Palmyra. Considered one of the region’s most important ancient sites, the 2000-year old Temple of Baal and a triumphal arch were razed by the militants, who also tortured and killed the city’s chief archeologist, eighty-one-year-old Chaled-al-Asaad. Al-Asaad had devoted his life to the study of Palmyra.