Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage: A summary of the national and international responses Volume III (Sept 2014 - Sept 2015) by Silvia Perini and Emma Cunliffe in association with Heritage for Peace ~ October 2015 ~ Dr Silvia Perini and Dr Emma Cunliffe in association with Heritage for Peace Contact Silvia Perini: [email protected] Heritage for Peace: [email protected] Published by Heritage for Peace, 2015 Hotel d’Entitats Rutlla, 20-22 Girona, Catalonia 17002 Spain All rights reserved. 2 | Page Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Activities to protect Syria’s Archaeological Heritage .................................................................... 7 1. National Actions and Local Initiatives ................................................................................ 7 a) Projects ............................................................................................................................. 7 i) Status of Staff ............................................................................................................... 7 ii) Status of the Site and Museum Records ...................................................................... 8 iii) Status of Sites ............................................................................................................. 9 iv) Status of Artefacts ...................................................................................................... 9 v) Cooperation with Local Authorities .......................................................................... 10 vi) Cooperation with International Authorities .............................................................. 10 vii) Local Initiatives: Construction of Museums and Libraries ..................................... 11 viii) Local Initiatives: Locals Work to Protect Sites ...................................................... 12 ix) Local Initiatives: New Groups .................................................................................. 13 b) Awareness Raising (Campaigns / Events / Calls / Exhibitions) .................................... 14 c) Workshops / Training Courses (Internal) ...................................................................... 16 d) Reports & Maps ............................................................................................................. 17 2. International Actions .......................................................................................................... 18 a) Projects and Documentation .......................................................................................... 18 x) Site and Object Inventories ........................................................................................ 18 xi) Damage Assessment: Reports and Databases .......................................................... 20 xii) Information Databases (Other) ................................................................................ 25 xiii) Reconstruction Projects and Conservation ............................................................. 27 xiv) Projects Fighting Illicit Trafficking ........................................................................ 29 xv) Projects: Other ......................................................................................................... 32 b) Awareness Raising (Talks, Conferences, Discussions, Workshops, etc.) ..................... 33 xvi) Cooperation Discussions ........................................................................................ 33 xvii) Appeals / Calls / Offers of Aid .............................................................................. 34 xviii) Conferences / Workshops ..................................................................................... 35 xix) Speeches / Talks ..................................................................................................... 45 3 | Page xx) Exhibitions ............................................................................................................... 47 xxi) Awareness Raising: Other ...................................................................................... 49 c) Laws, Legislation and Resolutions ................................................................................ 52 xxii) Implemented .......................................................................................................... 52 xxiii) Proposed ............................................................................................................... 53 d) Training / Courses ......................................................................................................... 57 e) Military Operations ........................................................................................................ 59 f) Academic Publications ................................................................................................... 59 g) Others ............................................................................................................................. 61 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix 1: Group Information: Updates .................................................................................... 69 4 | Page Introduction1 “Humans are important, but our history is the second most important thing. If we lose these monuments, we will kill our history” Hakyat al Shmal, member of the Syrian Association for Preserving Heritage and Ancient Landmark, 13 May 2013 During this last year and since the publication of the report Towards a protection of the Syrian cultural heritage: A summary of the international responses. Volume II (March 2014 – September 2014) (here called “September 2014 Report”), and its preceding volume (“March 2014 Report”), many more crucial activities have been undertaken towards the protection of the Syrian heritage. There is thus a need to create an update of such activities. However, the majority of the organisations/groups listed in the September 2014 report are now working in collaboration within each other to develop new projects leading to a considerable increase in collaborative projects. Because of this major change from the previous years, the format of this report presents a new shape that reflects such changes: new activities are now listed under the broad classifications of “action type” instead of an alphabetic list of “organisations/groups”. An even broader classification has been undertaken between “national/local” and “international” actions. With this classification in place, the following typologies of action have been observed: • Projects and Documentation • Awareness Raising (Campaigns, Events, Calls, Exhibitions, Talks, etc.) • Workshops / Training Courses • Reports & Maps • Exhibitions • Training / Courses • Laws, Legislation and Resolutions • Military Operations • Academic Publications • Others In addition, an appendix is included at the end of the report, providing an update of information about some of the groups, and information about the newest groups. 1 The authors wish to thank Paul Bishop for the final proofreading. In addition, the data collection for this report could not have been accomplished without the Heritage for Peace DamageIn addition, Newsletter the data Team:collection Dr Gregfor this Fisher, report Waseem could not Albahri, have been and Paulaccomplished Bishop. The without authors the areHeritage also particularly for Peace Damage Newsletter Team: Dr Greg Fisher, Waseem Albahri, and Paul Bishop. The authors are also particularly grateful to Lydia Magnavacca for her extensive assistance in data recording and logging the international actions. 5 | Page It must be stressed that many actions overlap into multiple categories. The assignment to a particular category is intended for ease of reference for the reader. Some actions are repeated in multiple sections to limit the amount of cross-referencing necessary to check work in a given area. In addition, many actions were conducted by multiple groups, and many projects are carried out in partnership between external groups and Syrians. Those projects are published primarily under International Actions, but the distinction is arbitrary, and largely based on whose the website the action is published on. It is also intended to aid understanding of which groups have contributed to assisting Syria. Actions and initiatives undertaken towards the protection of the Syrian intangible heritage are not included in this report. 6 | Page Activities to protect Syria’s Archaeological Heritage 1. National Actions and Local Initiatives a) Projects i) Status of Staff 14 Staff killed As of the publication of this report, the DGAM have lost 14 staff protecting the heritage of Syria. Some were killed during shelling of the buildings they worked in, others by snipers on their way into work. Some were threatened not to go to work, and when they did so, they were killed. In addition, Khalad al-Assad, a retired member of the DGAM, and world expert on the site of Palmyra was killed by Da’esh. Several others have been injured, some seriously.2 The DGAM has committed to provide extra budget to help those affected by the conflict, providing support including accommodation and transporting if possible, new offices in safer areas. In addition,