Heritage and press freedom in Egypt alert
The UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) is backing calls by UNESCO and UK civil society organisations urging the protection of Egypt’s cultural heritage and respect for press freedom. As protests in Egypt continue to unfold, the UKNC has outlined its serious concern over the current situation in a letter to the UK’s Foreign Secretary.
In a series of statements, the UNESCO Director-General, Mrs Irina Bokova, has requested that measures be taken to safeguard Egypt’s cultural treasures and to counter threats to the free flow of information and press freedom in the country.
Egyptian cultural heritage, both its monuments and its artefacts, are part of the ancestral heritage of humanity, handed down to us through the ages. The value of the 120,000 pieces in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is inestimable, not only in scientific or financial terms, but because they represent the Egyptian people’s cultural identity.” Irina Bokova, 1 February 2011
The Blue Shield network, which works to protect cultural property from attack in the event of armed conflict, has also urged Egyptians to prevent actions that could result in the damage or destruction of their cultural heritage.
The deterioration of Egypt’s press freedom is also a point of serious concern. Internet and mobile phone services have been discontinued, an increasing number of journalists have been arrested and reporters covering the protests have been attacked. Concern over these developments has been voiced by Irina Bokova in her message to Egyptian authorities, as well as by UK-based press freedom organisations including Article 19, the International News Safety Institute (INSI) and Index on Censorship.
In its letter to Mr Hague, the UKNC has also urged that UK customs and police staff are briefed to be on the look-out for objects that could have been looted from Egypt and to encourage auction houses to be particularly careful in checking provenance of all objects received for sale – in line with the various UNESCO Conventions, including the 1970 Convention on Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property which the UK ratified in 2002.
Written: 09/02/2011 , last modified: 09/02/2011
© Ann Walsh - Egyptian Museum, Cairo