In the modern international legal system
Armine H. Tigranyan
This article introduces the urgent need for legal protection of Artsakh’s intangible cultural heritage during the war. It highlights that the international conventions and other legal systems protecting cultural heritage during armed conflicts perform their function only partially and not in a direct way. This article identifies the crossroads where the intangible heritage is transformed into the cultural rights of community members and finds its protection in the international human rights system.
The second Artsakh war provoked by Azerbaijan, qualified as an ethnic/cultural cleansing, was primarily aimed at the destruction of the identity of Armenians of Artsakh. It was characterized not only by the obvious targeting of the material heritage of Artsakh but also targeted the intangible cultural heritage of the Armenians of Artsakh – the national rituals, customs, knowledge and skills, ideas, crafts, etc.
We should note that if the damage caused to the tangible heritage is obvious in most cases, the intangible heritage is in danger of its overall extinction and it is impossible to assess its damage. The protection of intangible cultural heritage during conflicts is very important, as it provides the communities with a sense of identity and continuity, the destruction of which threatens the existence of the community itself. The most vulnerable target of the cultural heritage during the war is the intangible heritage, as it is damaged in both cases whether the target is the civilian population and the communities are displaced (the intangible heritage is revealed through its bearers), or whether the material heritage is damaged. Thus, the protection of intangible heritage during conflicts becomes important not only in terms of preserving the element of heritage itself but also in terms of preserving the cultural identity of the communities and groups that use it.
During and after the war the cultural rights of many communities in Artsakh were violated by Azerbaijan, many of them were and will be deprived of the opportunity to use and pass on their intangible experience to future generations. This can damage their identity, and endanger the continuity and future of the community, and since most of the Armenians of Artsakh during and after the war stopped acting according to their intangible cultural heritage, this heritage lost its vitality and is doomed to disappear. So protection becomes even more important in this context.
During and after the war the cultural rights of many communities in Artsakh were violated by Azerbaijan, many of them were and will be deprived of the opportunity to use and pass on their intangible experience to future generations. This can damage their identity, and endanger the continuity and future of the community and since most of the Armenians of Artsakh during and after the war stop acting according to their intangible cultural heritage, this heritage loses its vitality and is doomed to disappear. So protection becomes even more important in this context.