Crimes Against Culture as a War Crime

by Eze Eluchie,

The recent arraignment, admission of guilt and conviction of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, a member of the Taureg extremist Islamist militia, Ansar Dine, before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing ‘crimes against culture’ via the destruction of ancient religious artifacts, structures and literature and ‘historical monuments or buildings dedicated to religion’, as a war crime in contravention of Article 8(b)ix of the Rome Statute, is a monumental and welcome development in international criminal law.

The recognition that when a peoples culture is destroyed, their very being, existence and life is depreciated, irreversibly diminished, thrown into turmoil and their ability to make meaningful progress adversely impacted, ranking pari passu with such other vile acts as genocides, mass rapes and systematic torture amongst several other war crimes, will serve to put into proper context similar crimes against culture committed elsewhere which have seemingly been overlooked by civilizations and mankind.

The recent prosecution for ‘crime against culture’ and the rationale given as reason for the landmark prosecution of the Malian terrorist in question by the ICC, should serve as a prism through which the world may yet begin to understand the extent of harm inflicted upon and suffered by the so-called emerging economies and countries and brings to mind the wrongs done to the various peoples of the African continent by foreign missionary and colonialists who traversed the continent.

   

For centuries, crimes against culture were perpetuated against several indigenous peoples, particularly across Sub-Sahara Africa, with such high level of impunity and brazenness that the heinous crimes gained currency as norms. One prime activity Islamic and Christian missionaries who first set foot on Sub-Sahara African soil engaged in was the systematic desecration and ultimately destruction of traditional symbols of religious and temporal authority, artifacts and whatsoever items that served for purposes of communal identification, unity and cohesion of the various peoples and communities they sought to conquer, convert, rule and or colonize.

An integral part of the political conquest (under the guise of colonization) of the indigenous people who own the various territories the colonialists seized was the total annihilation of whatsoever traditional instruments of authority and or religion/worship of ‘colonized peoples’ – in other words, colonization in a nutshell, was a prolonged Crime Against Culture, a prolonged War Crime.

This practice of destruction of people’s cultural heritage and identity has rather than abate, continued till date with greater frenzy and violence – at times supported by instrument of State authority. Till date Islamic and Christian groups, acting independently of one another but unified by their hatred of traditional culture and religions, take pride in public destruction of Traditional Masquerades, Religious Charms and Amulets, and Shrines dedicated to various Gods in traditional communities. Ironically, some States in Sub-Sahara Africa acting under the influence of the two religious bodies which institutionalized crime against culture in the continent, now serve as instruments to deepen crimes against culture against their own peoples, passing legislation's which seek to ‘criminalize’ traditional heritage, indigenous cultural practices and religions.

Considering that the devastation and harm caused by crimes against culture is a continuum, and that the crimes were so endemic and coordinated as to be deemed to be perpetuated in perpetuity, it would be interesting to know what the opinion of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the ICC itself would be towards investigating and ultimately prosecuting the principal custodians of the Islamic and Christian faiths and the present beneficiaries of years of commission of crimes against culture against peoples of Sub-Sahara Africa (to wit: the King of Saudi Arabia/Custodian of the Two Holy Temples {Islam}, the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Head of the Church of England/Anglican Communion {Christians}, and the complicit governments.

If the destruction of one mosque in Timbuktu will result into a conviction for Crime Against Culture, how would the ICC treat the obliteration of a peoples religion, culture and way of life?

Picture: A traditional masquerade (representative of the Gods) amongst the Igbo ethnic nationality in Nigeria.