Ruling by the International Criminal Court sets an important precedent
The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on 17 August, that an Islamic extremist caused €2.7m in damages when he destroyed shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012. This is the first time that the ICC has made a ruling solely on cultural destruction, setting an important precedent.
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The Hague-based ICC ordered "individual, collective and symbolic reparations” to be made to the community of Timbuktu. Acknowledging that “the destruction of the protected buildings has caused the suffering of people throughout Mali and the international community”, the ICC judge Raul Cano Pangalangan ordered that a symbolic amount of €1 be paid to the government of Mali and €1 to Unesco.
However, recognising that the Islamic extremist, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, is penniless, the ICC said that its Trust Fund for Victims (TFV)—set up following the establishment of the ICC in 2002—would implement the ruling and decide how the outstanding amount be paid. TFV has until 16 February 2018 to come up with a reparations implementation plan that is expected to include building memorials.
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“This ruling is important because it acknowledges the cultural damage that war can cause,” Nick Gestrich, an archaeology research fellow specialising in Malian history at the Frobenius-Institut in Frankfurt, tells The Art Newspaper. “Beyond the physical destruction of the buildings themselves, this has been traumatic to the people of Timbuktu. There are living descendants of the holy men whose mausolea were destroyed and they will welcome the reparations in restoring their ancestors' resting places. It is a step towards restoring the dignity of those harmed in the islamist takeover.”
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