UNESCO’s director general, Irina Bokova, has said that safeguarding of heritage sites has become a “humanitarian imperative, and a security issue”.

Speaking at The Hague, Bokova said that acts of deliberate destruction of heritage sites and “cultural cleansing”, which have taken place mainly in the Middle East and Africa, should be considered war crimes, stressing the need to combine ‘hard power’ with legislative, educational and training measures to protect shared heritage from terrorism and looting.

Bokova highlighted UNESCO’s recent actions to put heritage protection and cultural protection at the forefront of peacebuilding and humanitarian emergency operations, also noting close co-operation with the European Union on the matter.

“Our efforts are bearing fruit. ‘Blood antiquities’ have been seized all across the globe, smugglers have been arrested, statues have been returned to Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria,” said the UNESCO director general.

“The first suspect of the destruction of the Mausoleums of Timbuktu in Mali has been transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the trial should take place during this summer. This sends a resounding message against impunity, including today in Syria and Iraq.

“The destruction of heritage is inseparable from the persecution of people. This is why we consider the protection of cultural heritage today as far more than a cultural issue. This has become a humanitarian imperative, and a security issue.”