Mali: An Attack Against History and a War Crime

Since last year, the insurgent group Ansar Dine has been destroying ancient monuments and priceless cultural artifacts in Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and historic center of Islamic learning. The insurgents began by demolishing mausoleums and tombs with axes, shovels and hammers in July 2012. In October they smashed more tombs. In December they destroyed remaining mausoleums. And in late January 2013, they set fire to two museums housing thousands of priceless manuscripts, some of which date back to the 13th century.

Ansar Dine insurgents justify their actions by claiming to defend the purity of their Islamic faith against idol worship and as part of their goal of installing Sharia law in Mali. UNESCO’s Director General has called it “an attack against this history and the values it carries—values of tolerance, exchange, and living together, which lie at the heart of Islam.”

The insurgents’ actions also constitute war crimes, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Article 8(2)(e)(iv) makes it a war crime to intentionally direct attacks against “buildings dedicated to religion, education, art… [and] historic monuments… provided they are not military objectives” in non-international armed conflicts. This is exactly what the Ansar Dine insurgents have done.

Last July, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda recognized that her office had authority to charge the insurgents with these crimes as part of its investigation into the situation in Mali. And when her office formally opened its investigation January 2013, she listed “intentionally directing attacks against protected objects” among the crimes that her office would investigate. If the prosecution follows through with such charges, they would be the first of their kind before the ICC.

It should be noted that, if a case moves forward, representatives of the destroyed sites and cultural artifacts should be admitted to participate as victims in ICC proceedings. Article 68(3) of the Rome Statute entitles victims of ICC crimes to present their “views and concerns” where their interests are affected, as long as it is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and impartial trial. Rule 85 of the ICC’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence defines “victims” to include “organizations or institutions that have sustained direct harm to any of their property which is dedicated to religion, education, art… and to historic monuments.”

The organizations responsible for the destroyed sites and artifacts clearly fit within this definition, and the court should respect their right to present their views and concerns. With charges that represent the destruction and the contribution of these organizations, the ICC proceedings will fully represent the damage that Ansar Dine rebels have caused—both to the people on the ground and to the irreplaceable historic record of Islam in Africa.