Just received via Vesna Marjanovic, Curator, Vojvodina Museum, Novi Sad
(ICOM Yugoslavia National Committee).

Patrick Boylan

===========================================

Mr. Bernard Kouchner
Administrator of UN Mission for Kosovo
Pristina

Mr Kouchner,

  We write to you on behalf of group of experts engaged in the
protection of cultural and natural heritage who are deeply worried about
the current events in Kosovo and Metohija. Yugoslav and world public are
well acquainted with the daily merciless devastation of valuable
cultural monuments, especially Serbian churches and monasteries, old
city and rural buildings, archeological sites, archives, libraries,
museums and graveyards, and the systematic destruction of natural
heritage. The recent events  convinced us that in spite of the
continuous warnings and proposals for immediate urgent measures we had
sent to KFOR, the UN Mission and the representative of UNESCO in Kosovo,
international civilian and military authorities do not prevent the
destruction of heritage. According to international conventions, it is
your duty to take appropriate measures in order to assure the
preservation of extremely rich, specific multicultural, multiethnic and
multireligious heritage, and protection of cultural- historic, and
especially architectural, monuments and sites. Furthermore, it is your
duty to show due concern for the highly important natural resorts which
are also centers of biodiversity of European and global significance.
We hope that you will understand the professional reasons that lead us
to contact you, as we had done with your predecessor, expressing our
concern for the future of heritage of entire region. If the necessary
measures for protection are not urgently taken, your Mission may be held
responsible for not being up to its historic duty and for allowing the
destruction of cultural and natural heritage of Kosovo and Metohija, an
important part of Balkan and European heritage. Therefore, we appeal to
you to do all that is in your power to physically protect the valuable
heritage of this region.

Group of experts for protection of heritage, members of: ICOM, ICROM,
ICOMOS, IUCN, Europa Nostra / Serbia Nostra, professional associations
of art historians, conservators, architects, town planners, archivists
and other organizations.

Belgrade, August 12th 1999.


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