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Resolution on the Confiscation of Iraqi Documents from the Iraq National Library and Archives
| WHEREAS, | The Unites States director of National
Intelligence, John Negroponte, posted hundreds of Iraqi documents to the
internet during the months of March 2006 through November 2006 for wider public
distribution and dissemination; and | | WHEREAS, | Since November 2007, the director of the Iraq
National Library and Archives, Dr. Saad Eskander, has publicly requested of the
State Department and of the international community that the millions of Iraqi
documents seized from the Archives by the United States and British forces
after the fall of the Ba’ath regime be returned; and | | WHEREAS, | As of January 9, 2008, there is no evidence
suggesting that seized Iraqi documents have been returned; and | | WHEREAS, | Historical documents unify a diverse population
through the representation of a shared social and cultural memory; and | | WHEREAS, | Documents seized from the Iraq National Library
and Archive represent Iraqi social memory and, as products of political and
cultural institutions, had been preserved for longevity as cultural property in
the Iraq National Library and Archive; and | | WHEREAS, | The Hague Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Chapter I, Article 1, defines
cultural property as “moveable or immovable property of great importance to the
cultural heritage of every people”; and | | WHEREAS, | In 2003, the American Library Association
Council adopted the Resolution on Libraries and Cultural Resources in Iraq
urging “The U.S. Government to ratify and comply with The Hague Convention for
the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict an its
Second Protocol”, now, therefore, be it | | RESOLVED, | That ALA condemns the confiscation of documents
from the Iraq National Library and Archive by the Unites States and British
forces and strongly advocates the immediate return of all documents, and, be it
further | | RESOLVED, | That ALA calls for the United States Government
to honor the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict and its Second Protocol. |
Adopted by the ALA Council
of the American Library Association
on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
in Philadelphia, PA
Keith Michael Fiels
ALA Executive Director and ALA Council Secretary
BACK TO ALA-INTERNATIONAL RESOLUTIONS
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