Araştırma Makalesi

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

Cilt: 4 Sayı: 1 30 Haziran 2026
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Attacking Identity: Why Cultural Heritage Trafficking Must Be Recognized as Crime Against Humanity

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Destekleyen Kurum

N/A

Etik Beyan

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

Kaynakça

  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).

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil

İngilizce

Konular

Uluslararası Ceza Hukuku, Uluslararası İnsani ve İnsan Hakları Hukuku

Bölüm

Araştırma Makalesi

Yazarlar

Yayımlanma Tarihi

30 Haziran 2026

Gönderilme Tarihi

11 Eylül 2025

Kabul Tarihi

15 Haziran 2026

Yayımlandığı Sayı

Yıl 2026 Cilt: 4 Sayı: 1

Kaynak Göster

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 (01 Haziran 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, c. 4, sy 1, ss. 89–133, Haz. 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 (01 Haziran 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, c. 4, sy 1, Haziran 2026, ss. 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. 01 Haziran 2026;4(1):89-133. doi:10.69800/blr.1781908