Roerich Pact

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The Roerich Pact , also known as the Washington Treaty of 1935 after the place and year when the treaty was signed , is an international treaty for the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments in the event of war . It is named after the Russian lawyer , painter and writer Nicholas Roerich , on whose initiative the agreement came about. The signature was on April 15, 1935 in the White House in Washington by the United States and 20 Latin American states. With the accession of Cuba , the treaty came into force on August 26th of the same year, and by 1937 ten of the 21 signatory states were also contracting parties. The Pan-American Union was originally the depositary of the treaty; the Organization of American States, as its successor, is currently performing this task.

Legal and historical importance

The protective symbol for cultural property defined by the Roerich Pact

Although the Roerich Pact is still in force today, its practical relevance remained low due to the small number of contracting parties. In particular, no country from Europe or Asia , the main focus of the Second World War , which began only a few years after the conclusion of the treaty , joined the agreement. The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict , adopted in 1954, is far more comprehensive in terms of its provisions and far more widespread in terms of its acceptance than the Roerich Pact. Since all contracting parties to the Roerich Pact acceded to the Hague Convention of 1954, it has in practice completely replaced it.

The historical significance of the Roerich Pact lies in the fact that it is the first separate treaty in the history of international humanitarian law that was exclusively devoted to the protection of cultural property during a war. Prior to its conclusion, corresponding provisions were only contained in Articles 27 and 56 of the Hague Land Warfare Regulations of 1899 and 1907. The Roerich Pact comprised eight articles and contained several innovations compared to the only general provisions of the Hague Land Warfare Regulations for the protection of cultural property. The treaty introduced the status of neutrality for historical monuments , museums , scientific and artistic institutions as well as educational and cultural institutions. This concept, which was based on the neutrality of medical personnel during a war, was intended to ensure respect and thus the protection of cultural property.

Another essential aspect was the administration of lists of monuments and facilities for which the contracting parties claimed appropriate protection by the Pan-American Union in its role as depositary. Comparable regulations were also included in the Hague Convention of 1954. This also applies to the definition of a protective symbol for the marking of cultural goods contained in the Roerich Pact. This consisted of three red dots in a red circle on a white background, which, according to Nicholas Roerich , should clarify art , science and religion as the three most important cultural activities of mankind. The circle stood as a connecting element of these three aspects in the past, present and future. This symbol was also called the "banner of peace", the movement based on the Roerich Pact under the name Pax Cultura was sometimes referred to as the "Red Cross of Culture" in analogy to the Geneva Conventions . The concept of a symbol for protected cultural property was adopted in the Hague Convention of 1954, but the symbol of the Roerich Pact was replaced by a blue and white shield .

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