London: The destruction of historic artifacts in Iraq by Islamic State (IS) militants will be considered as war crime.
This decision was from the head of UN agency for culture in UNESCO.
Irina Bokova said that she was shocked by knowing the cultural cleansing initiated by the IS militant group.
She was speaking after calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the ongoing issue.
Recently, IS militants had posted a video showing the destruction of materials related to the ancient culture of Iraq.
As per the video display, the IS followers were used drilling devices and sledgehammers for cracking the centuries old statues kept in a museum at Mosul in Iraq.
Some of the destroyed artifacts were dated back to the 9th Century BC.
According to militants, those statues were “false idols” and hence they had to be removed.
They were trying to justify their heinous act in terms of religion.
Analysts said that the artifacts were unique and priceless, although the museum had kept evidence copies of some of the rare and unique items.
During the UN council meeting Irina Bokova said that by viewing the artifacts destruction scene from video, she was in total despair and could not watch the footage fully.
In the meeting UNESCO stated that under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage would be a war crime.
The statement added that Ms Bokova had already called on the ICC to launch an investigation in to the destruction of centuries old material evidences of culture in Iraq.
She has also stressed the need to form a “global coalition” against the illegal removal of cultural goods.
Video on Irna Bokova’s plea to protect the cultural heritage in Iraq
