Title: Supporting the commitment of the United States to lawfully protect international cultural sites.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) targeting or destroying cultural property in the absence of imperative military necessity violates the law of armed conflict and is counter to U.S. values, (2) the United States is committed to following the law of armed conflict and the international agreements to which it is a party, and (3) the President should not threaten or order the commission of war crimes or other violations of the law of armed conflict.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 795 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 795

  Supporting the commitment of the United States to lawfully protect 
                     international cultural sites.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 14, 2020

     Mr. Engel (for himself and Mr. Ryan) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Supporting the commitment of the United States to lawfully protect 
                     international cultural sites.

Whereas President Trump threatened to strike locations in Iran that are ``at a 
        very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture'';
Whereas the United States has a proud history of protecting and avoiding 
        intentional damage to and destruction of sites of historical and 
        cultural significance, even and especially in times of armed conflict;
Whereas President Abraham Lincoln's Lieber Code of 1863 expresses that cultural 
        property should be protected in times of armed conflict;
Whereas, during World War II, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower 
        issued an order that military forces are bound to respect historical 
        monuments so far as war allows;
Whereas, following World War II, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of 
        Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (``Hague Convention''), 
        to which the United States is a party, requires that State Parties 
        refrain from any act directed by way of reprisals against cultural 
        property and solidified the principle that cultural property should not 
        be targeted during conflict except in cases of imperative military 
        necessity;
Whereas, the most recent Department of Defense Law of War Manual, revised in 
        2016, specifically prohibits ``acts of hostility . . . directed against 
        cultural property'' in the absence of imperative military necessity;
Whereas, in 2004, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the 
        former Yugoslavia convicted those responsible for the intentional 
        shelling of the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, a World Heritage Site;
Whereas the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act (Public Law 
        114-151) advanced the protection of cultural property at risk from 
        conflicts in Syria and elsewhere and established an interagency Cultural 
        Heritage Coordinating Committee at the U.S. Department of State;
Whereas, in 2017, the United Nations Security Council condemned the unlawful 
        destruction of cultural property in Resolution 2347, a resolution for 
        which the United States voted, and affirmed that directing unlawful 
        attacks against cultural sites and buildings may constitute a war crime;
Whereas section 1279C of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 (Public 
        Law 115-91; 10 U.S.C. 113 note) designated a Coordinator for Cultural 
        Heritage Protection at the Department of Defense to help ensure the 
        protection of cultural property, including adherence to the Hague 
        Convention;
Whereas, on January 7, 2020, when asked about the prospect of targeting cultural 
        sites in Iran, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated that ``we will 
        follow the law of armed conflict'';
Whereas, on January 7, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that ``every 
        target that's being reviewed, every effort that's being made will always 
        be conducted inside the international laws of war''; and
Whereas, it is the established policy of the United States to protect 
        international cultural property abroad, including that of religious 
        communities and ethnic minorities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the intentional targeting or destruction of cultural 
        property in the absence of imperative military necessity is a 
        violation of the law of armed conflict and runs counter to the 
        values of the United States;
            (2) the United States is committed to following the law of 
        armed conflict and international agreements to which it is a 
        party, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection 
        of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and
            (3) the President should not order the United States 
        military or other government agencies or employees to commit 
        war crimes or other violations of the international law of 
        armed conflict or threaten to do so.
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