Research Article

Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity

Volume: 4 Number: 1 June 30, 2026
TR EN

Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity

Abstract

This article argues that the systematic looting and illicit trafficking of cultural heritage are not ancillary harms or opportunistic crimes but deliberate assaults on collective memory, identity, and human dignity – harms that can occur in both war and peace and that routinely produce psychological, social, economic, and political injury far beyond mere pecuniary loss. While international law now provides comparatively strong, criminalized protection for cultural heritage during armed conflict, peacetime frameworks (notably the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions) remain largely remedial and cooperative, focused on restitution rather than criminal accountability. This enforcement gap permits transnational trafficking networks and complicit market actors, including museums, auction houses, and private collectors, to operate with effective impunity. Drawing on recent developments in international criminal jurisprudence and policy, including the ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s Cultural Heritage Policy, the article demonstrates that large-scale, organized trafficking routinely produces the severe, widespread, and long-lasting harms contemplated by Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute. It shows how illicit excavation and market-driven pillage destroy archaeological context, sever communities from intergenerational memory, and inflict serious injury to mental and social health – harms of a character and gravity comparable to other international crimes. The article proposes that recognizing systematic cultural-heritage trafficking as an ‘other inhumane act’ within the crimes against humanity framework would close a critical accountability gap and affirm that the exploitation of shared cultural heritage constitutes conduct of the gravest international concern. Ultimately, it argues that classifying peacetime trafficking as a crime against humanity would provide a crucial legal tool for source nations to safeguard humanity’s shared cultural legacy.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

N/A

Ethical Statement

I hereby declare that the article entitled “Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as a Crime Against Humanity” is my original work and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. The manuscript does not contain any unlawful, defamatory, or unethical material. All sources used have been properly acknowledged and cited in accordance with academic standards. The article does not involve human subjects, personal data, or experiments requiring ethical approval. I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest related to this submission, financial or otherwise. I accept full responsibility for the content of the manuscript. Sincerely, Anosh Naderi

References

  1. Adam Roberts, ‘Foundational Myths in the Laws of War: The 1863 Lieber Code, and the 1864 Geneva Convention’ (2019) 20(1) Melbourne Journal of International Law 1.
  2. Alexander Pearce Higgins, The Hague Peace Conferences and Other International Conferences Concerning the Laws and Usages of War: Texts of Conventions with Commentaries (Cambridge University Press, Online edition, 1909).
  3. Alicja Jagielska-Burduk, Mateusz Pszczyński and Piotr Stec, ‘Cultural Heritage Education in UNESCO Cultural Conventions’ (2021) 13(6) Sustainability 1.
  4. Amr Al-Ansi, Jin-Soo Lee, Brian King and Heesup Han, ‘Stolen History: Community Concern Towards Looting of Cultural Heritage and its Tourism Implications’ (2021) 87(2) Tourism Management 104.
  5. Ana Filipa Vrdoljak, ‘Cultural Heritage in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law’ in Orna Ben-Naftali (ed), International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law (Oxford Academic Press, Online edition, 2011).
  6. Ana Filipa Vrdoljak, ‘Cultural Heritage, Transitional Justice, and Rule of Law’ in Francesco Francioni and Ana Filipa Vrdoljak (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Cultural Heritage Law (Oxford Academic Press, Online edition, 2020).
  7. Ana Filipa Vrdoljak, ‘The Criminalisation of the Illicit Trade in Cultural Property’ in Jane Anderson and Haidy Geismar (eds), The Routledge Companion to Cultural Property (Routledge, 2017).
  8. Ana Filipa Vrdoljak, Andrzej Jakubowski and Alessandro Chechi (eds), The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions on Stolen or Illegally Transferred Cultural Property: A Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Publication Date

June 30, 2026

Submission Date

September 11, 2025

Acceptance Date

June 15, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 4 Number: 1

APA
Naderi, A. (2026). Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity. The Boğaziçi Law Review, 4(1), 89-133. https://doi.org/10.69800/blr.1781908
AMA
1.Naderi A. Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity. BLR. 2026;4(1):89-133. doi:10.69800/blr.1781908
Chicago
Naderi, Anosh. 2026. “Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized As Crime Against Humanity”. The Boğaziçi Law Review 4 (1): 89-133. https://doi.org/10.69800/blr.1781908.
EndNote
Naderi A (June 1, 2026) Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity. The Boğaziçi Law Review 4 1 89–133.
IEEE
[1]A. Naderi, “Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity”, BLR, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 89–133, June 2026, doi: 10.69800/blr.1781908.
ISNAD
Naderi, Anosh. “Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized As Crime Against Humanity”. The Boğaziçi Law Review 4/1 (June 1, 2026): 89-133. https://doi.org/10.69800/blr.1781908.
JAMA
1.Naderi A. Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity. BLR. 2026;4:89–133.
MLA
Naderi, Anosh. “Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized As Crime Against Humanity”. The Boğaziçi Law Review, vol. 4, no. 1, June 2026, pp. 89-133, doi:10.69800/blr.1781908.
Vancouver
1.Anosh Naderi. Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity. BLR. 2026 Jun. 1;4(1):89-133. doi:10.69800/blr.1781908