The ongoing armed conflict in Syria has severely impacted human lives. More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives and more than 11 million were displaced from their homes. The impact of the conflict has been extended to the invaluable cultural property of Syria. The Syrian exceptional rich and unique cultural property was in the middle of hostilities, which took various forms including bombing; fighting in or near the archaeological sites; looting and illicit trafficking of invaluable objects and artefacts.
As per Public International Law rules, cultural property is protected against unlawful acts, further, these unlawful acts are prosecutable before international tribunals as war crimes. Though, with regard to the conflict in Syria, the legal regime for the protection seems unfit for its purpose and the prosecution seems to be unattainable at least for the current time. To this end, this Article aims to examine the application of the international law rules with respect to the protection of cultural property and their effectiveness in protection and prosecution with regard to the armed conflict in Syria.
Therefore, this Article is divided into four parts. Part I introduces an overview on the current conflict in Syria and its implication on the cultural property. Part II exposes to the protection of cultural property in international law with relation to the conflict in Syria. Part III examines the criminalization of the unlawful acts against cultural property as per International Criminal Law. Part IV suggests possible venues for prosecuting unlawful acts against cultural property in Syria. The Article concludes with remarks on the effectiveness of current provisions of international law with respect to the protection of cultural property and suggests possible ways for enhancement.