Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin.

 

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin

  The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 3026 A (XXVII) of 18 December 1972, 3148(XXVIII) of 14 December 1973, 3187 (XXVIII) of 18 December 1973, 3391 (XXX) of 19 November 1975, 31/40 of 30 November 1976, 32/18 of 11 November 1977, 33/50 of 14 December 1978, 34/64 of 29 November 1979, 35/127 and 35/128 of 11 December 1980 and 36/64 of 27 November 1981, Recalling also the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted on 14 November 1970 by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Taking note with satisfaction of the report of the Secretary-General submitted in co-operation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Aware of the importance attached by the countries of origin to the return of cultural property which is of fundamental spiritual and cultural value to them, so that they may constitute collections representative of their cultural heritage, Noting with satisfaction that some countries have taken positive steps towards the return or restitution of museum pieces, archives and objets d'art to their countries of origin, Reaffirming the importance of inventories as an essential tool for the understanding and protection of cultural property and for the identification of dispersed heritage and as a contribution to the advancement of scientific and artistic knowledge and intercultural communication, Deeply concerned at the clandestine excavations and the illicit traffic in cultural property that continue to impoverish the cultural heritage of all peoples, Supporting the solemn appeal made on 7 June 1978 by the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the return of irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it,

1. Commends the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation on the work they have accomplished, in particular through the promotion of bilateral negotiations, for the return or restitution of cultural property, the preparation of inventories of movable cultural property, the development of infrastructures for the protection of movable cultural property, the reduction of illicit traffic in cultural property and the dissemination of information to the public;

2. Reaffirms that the restitution to a country of its objets d'art monuments, museum pieces, archives, manuscripts, documents and any other cultural or artistic treasures contributes to the strengthening of international co-operation and to the preservation and flowering of universal cultural values through fruitful co-operation between developed and developing countries;

3. Invites Member States to draw up, in co-operation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, systematic inventories of cultural property existing in their territory and of their cultural property abroad;

4. Also invites Member States engaged in seeking the recovery of cultural and artistic treasures from the sea-bed, in accordance with international law, to facilitate by mutually acceptable conditions the participation of States having a historical and cultural link with those treasures;

5. Appeals to Member States to co-operate closely with the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation and to conclude bilateral agreements for this purpose;

6. Also appeals to Member States to encourage the mass information media and educational and cultural institutions to strive to arouse a greater and more general awareness with regard to the return or restitution of cultural property to its country of origin;

7. Takes note with satisfaction of the importance accorded by the World Conference on Cultural Policies, held at Mexico City from 26 July to 6 August 1982, to the question of the return or restitution of cultural property during the debate on cultural policies;

8. Endorses the opinion expressed at the World Conference on Cultural Policies that the return of cultural property to its country of origin should be accompanied by the training of key personnel and technicians and the provision of the necessary facilities for the satisfactory conservation and presentation of the property restored;

9. Invites once again those Member States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property;

10. Requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to submit to the General Assembly at its fortieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;

11. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fortieth session the item entitled "Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin".