The around-the-globe video diffusion of the destruction of the world cultural heritage monuments by Daesh, such as the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, has shocked the entire humanity. Attacks against greatly celebrated cultural sites are pursued by Daesh and other terrorist groups with the aim of erasing the legacies of the cradle of Western culture or to wipe out cultures different from the terrorists own. The remnants of the destructive attacks are then sold by the terrorist group on the international black market of artefacts, which is estimated to be one of the main sources of the group self-financing.
Because of the destruction of the world cultural heritage, the whole humanity feels it has been deprived of part of itself, and this, regardless of the geographical localization of the ruined artefact or of the identification of that cultural property with a given civilization.
How can this universal human feeling be defined in legal terms? Does it give rise to any individual and/or collective
subjective legal situation deserving protection and redress? What tools are available to the international community to fight against thedestruction and loss of antiquities by terrorist groups and to repair damages?
The present proposal suggests a ground-breaking approach to answering these and other connected questions, which consists in intersecting different legal and non-legal disciplines, theoretical paradigms and research methodologies. The fight against cultural terrorism is proving to be an amazing example of the development of a 'global law', meaning the creation and implementation of complementary legal tools, irrespective of their systematic legal provenance. As a concrete outcome, this research will provide a synergic and interactive map of the legal and operational (for purpose of security, anti-smuggling, artefacts restoration) tools, for the use of all interested actors involved, such as institutions, agents, operators, museums, civil society.
