ICOM President Jacques Perot urges all ICOM Committees and Affiliated
Organisations to disseminate as widely as possible the following UNESCO
press release.

Communiqué 
Office of the Spokeswoman/ La Porte Parole 
Contact: [log in to unmask] 
Telephone: 00 33 (1) 45 68 13 26
Fax: 00 33 (1) 45 68 55 66
 
UNESCO, 15 April 2003

Koïchiro Matsuura: Libraries and Archives must be protected as essential
parts of the rich heritage of Iraq  
 
As the evidence of the destruction of many parts of the cultural heritage in
Iraq is increasing, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today
warned of the devastation and looting of libraries and archives in the
country, which may have irreversible consequences for maintaining  and
strengthening the country's cultural identity. "I reiterate my urgent call
to take immediate measures of protection and surveillance of Iraqi cultural
institutions to which libraries and archives belong", declared Mr Matsuura.

"Libraries, archives and manuscripts must be preserved as essential parts of
the rich heritage of Iraq. Libraries are the essence of knowledge societies.
Nearly twenty centuries of  written history of mankind are in danger;
everything must be done to protect them from looting and destruction ", Mr.
Matsuura said. 

"Measures must be taken to protect governmental records that are held by
archives, since they are vital for the functioning of public administration
after the war, for example, to protect the legal, financial and contractual
rights of Iraqi citizens", Mr Matsuura added.

Through its Memory of the World Programme[1], UNESCO is recognized as the
international lead agency for the protection of the world's documentary
heritage in libraries and archives and has established Guidelines both for
the safeguarding of vital records in the event of armed conflicts and for
the management of state security archives of former repressive regimes.

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[1] Memory of the World Programme: http://www.unesco.org/webworld

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