COMBATİNG WAR CRİMES AND THE PROBLEM OF PROTECTİNG CULTURAL HERİTAGE AND HUMAN RİGHTS

Abstract

In the article, the problem of combating war crimes and protecting of cultural heritage and human rights is widely analyzed with the existing diversity of opinions in the legal literature and important international documents. It is noted that along with the destruction of cultural heritage, which is a type of war crime, other crimes (aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity) are also aimed at this in one form or another. In the article, some important international agreements adopted by UNESCO, an important international organization in the field of cultural heritage protection, are analyzed in close interaction with international agreements adopted in the field of international humanitarian law. The mentioned is carried out simultaneously with the mutual review of the national legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The article argues that the fight against war crimes and the protection of cultural heritage are closely related to human rights, which should be linked to the protection of cultural rights as a whole. Therefore, the problems of cultural heritage protection should be analyzed in close interaction with human rights. The article also makes a proposal in the direction of international law creation. Thus, it is justified that it is necessary to adopt the Additional Protocol to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which includes the elements of "cultural genocide".

In the end, a number of theoretical and practical proposals are put forward on the problem of combating war crimes and protecting cultural heritage and human rights. Thus, it is noted that in order to increase the responsibility of the states in this field, the implementation mechanisms of the adopted international documents should be precisely formed, appropriate measures should be implemented for their effective national-legal implementation, and finally, responsibility measures should be strengthened within the framework of national legislation.