REACTION PAPER

MOVIE TITLE: The Monuments Men

DISCUSSION:

The Monuments Men is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney, based
on the non-fiction book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the
Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. The film
revolved around the story of group of museum and art enthusiasts who were given
the task of finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items
before Nazis destroy or steal them, during World War II.

The film significantly emphasized the effects of war and conflict. It was able
to convey the message that the same are felt in ways far beyond the immediate
tangible tragedies that people are so familiar with. Cultural property – which can
include such things as museums, historic monuments, or archaeological sites – is a
part of people’s identity. Attacks on cultural property are so much more than
destruction of bricks, wood, or mortar. They are attacks on the identity, memory,
dignity and future of entire populations.

With the advent of International Humanitarian Law, the rules of war oblige
parties to an armed conflict to protect and respect cultural property. According to
IHL, attacking cultural property or using it for military purposes is prohibited, unless
required by imperative military necessity. Moreover, parties to the conflict may not
seize, destroy or willfully damage cultural property and must put a stop to theft,
pillage or vandalism directed against it.

In addition to complying with the general rules on the conduct of hostilities,

parties to a conflict must take special care in military operations to avoid any
damage to cultural property. This is because even if through incidental effects, the
destruction of cultural property still means that people, communities, and societies
lose out.

The legal protections that relate to cultural property in armed conflict are
spelled out in international treaty and customary law, including the 1954 Hague
Convention on the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict and
its two Protocols as well as the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva
Conventions.

Accordingly, protecting and respecting cultural property is vital to rebuilding

once armed conflict ends. Thus, in 2016, the ICRC signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) to further strengthen cooperation on this issue. The
agreement commits both the ICRC and UNESCO to work on encouraging further
ratification of relevant international instruments, providing technical advice,
cooperating on awareness raising and capacity building, and – where appropriate
and in full accordance with each organization’s well-established working modalities
- coordinating their actions to protect cultural property that may be at risk in armed
conflict.