Professor Karima Bennoune, ’94, testified before Congress earlier this week, speaking at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s hearing on the Russian Federation’s campaign to erase Ukrainian culture and identity in the context of its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. Bennoune is an expert in public international law and international human rights law, including issues related to culture, extremism and terrorism, and women’s human rights.
Bennoune, the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law, said she is “gravely concerned” about reports of widespread and systematic Russian attacks on culture and cultural heritage in Ukraine. She said these attacks are not incidental, but instead are closely related to Vladimir Putin’s attempt to justify the war by claiming Ukraine is not a distinct country.
“To paraphrase from the film The Monuments Men, ‘if you destroy [a people’s] achievements and their history, then it’s like they never existed.’ So, these cultural crimes must also be strongly condemned and thoroughly investigated, alleged perpetrators must be brought to justice, and there must be international support for Ukraine’s cultural workers.”
She said doing so is “an essential component of an effective international response to Russia’s illegal invasion.”
Cultural warfare against the Ukrainian people
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 438 cultural sites—including monuments, theaters, places of worship, cemeteries, and universities—have been damaged or destroyed since the Russian invasion in February 2022. Libraries and other repositories of materials in the Ukrainian language, historical archives, and museums have also been destroyed.
Bennoune—who served as the UN special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights from 2015 to 2021 and was an expert for the reparations phase of a 2017 International Criminal Court case concerning the intentional destruction of cultural heritage sites in Mali—said these events are a clear violation of human rights.
“There are many examples around the world where destruction is part of what I labeled while special rapporteur as ‘cultural engineering,’ practiced by those who seek to erase whatever does not accord with their vision, a form of cultural warfare against populations.
“I shared UNESCO’s view that acts of intentional destruction sometimes constitute ‘cultural cleansing.’ They take terrorizing a population to a heightened level through an attack on its very history,” she added, noting that these practices appeared to be happening in Ukraine.
Cultural heritage is a human right
Bennoune was the only lawyer on the congressional panel, alongside colleagues from freedom of expression and Ukrainian relief organizations, King’s College London, and the Penn Museum.
Asked to provide an overview of the relevant international legal framework, she said that while “cultural property” is quantified relatively easily under the 1954 Hague Convention, the notion of “cultural heritage” is broader and includes customs and practices, languages, forms of artistic expression, and folklore.
Tangible heritage like monuments and art and intangible cultural heritage are interlinked and usually attacked in tandem, she said.
“Cultural heritage is a fundamental resource needed for people to enjoy a range of human rights, including to freedoms of expression and of religion or belief, and the right to education.”
Bennoune cited international agreements, to which Russia and Ukraine are parties, that guarantee access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
In addition, she cited international law protections for personnel safeguarding cultural heritage—including museum curators, librarians, and writers—and highlighted the case of Iryna Osadcha, the director of the Kupiansk Museum of Local History, who was killed in an April 2023 attack on her museum.
“Accountability for violations of cultural rights and cultural cleansing should be included in all accountability processes. Accountability mechanisms must consider the impact on Ukrainian cultural workers and the Ukrainian population, not just on cultural objects themselves,” Bennoune said.
“I have seen firsthand the anguish caused to people, including those under occupation and facing atrocities, by attacks on their most precious cultural heritage and the erasure of their histories,” she continued.
“This represents the destruction of the resources they most need to draw strength from in their darkest hour. The international community must respond effectively.”
