3 Jul 2012

UNESCO / MALI

The World Heritage Committee on 2 July condemned the destruction of World Heritage sites in Mali and called on UNESCO to create a new fund to help the country protect its heritage. UNESCO

Posted at: July 3, 2012 5:15 pm

Duration: 03:07

Available in: SD

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SHOTLIST: UNESCO / MALI
TRT: 3.07
SOURCE: UNESCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN / ARABIC / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 3 JULY 2012, SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

SHOTLIST:

3 JULY 2012, SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

1. Med shot, Bronze Horseman statue
2. Med shot, World Heritage Committee Chairperson Eleonora Mitrofanova, Malian Minister Fadima Diallo and UNESCO ambassadors arriving to media encounter 
3. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Eleonora Mitrofanova, Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and Ambassador of the Russian Federation to UNESCO:
"We have assembled here today, 21 representatives of the member states of the Committee representing all regions of our planet on behalf of 190 member countries of UNESCO, to condemn the acts of the vandals who have destroyed, and are still destroying, World Heritage objects in Mali."
4. Wide shot, ambassadors
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to UNESCO:
"Last week we accepted the request from Mali to inscribe Timbuktu on the list of World Heritage in Danger. In return, Islamic fighting groups destroyed three sacred tombs with pick axes. Islamists announced that for them, this is only the beginning of the total destruction of Timbuktu."
6. Wide shot, ambassadors 
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Daniel Rondeau, Ambassador of France to UNESCO:
"Remember the statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, and their destruction. For the moment, this is one of the most ancient African temples which are disappearing under our very eyes. We consider this action to be a crime against history. We, the ambassadors of UNESCO, gathered here around the Minister of Culture of Mali, appeal to governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, mass media, public opinion, all people of good will, not to allow the vandals to wipe out these monuments which have witnessed important events of human history."
8. Wide shot, Fadima Diallo and ambassadors
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Fadima Diallo, Mali's Culture and Tourism Minister:
"The presumed perpetrators will be prosecuted and will account for their acts. Mali, a tolerant and hospitable land, heir to several secular civilisations, respectful of property and personal rights, will remain upright and retain its dignity."
10. Wide shot, ambassadors applauding
11. Pan left, three ambassadors close to tears
12. Wide shot, journalists and ambassadors
13. Med shot, Malian minister of culture in tears

STORYLINE:

The World Heritage Committee today (3 July) denounced the destruction of World Heritage sites in Mali as a "crime against history", one day after it decided to create a special fund to help the strife-torn west African nation conserve its cultural heritage.

In a tearful press encounter in Saint Petersburg's Senatskaya Square, the Committee's Russian Chairperson, Eleonora Mitrofanova explained that all 21 of the Committee's members had assembled in front of the cameras to express their horror at the "acts of the vandals who have destroyed, and are still destroying, World Heritage objects in Mali".

The ambassadors, who are in Saint Petersburg for their two-week annual session, proceeded to read out a joint statement in all official UN languages.

They noted that after they had accepted Mali's request to inscribe Timbuktu on the list of World Heritage in Danger last week, "Islamic fighting groups" had destroyed three sacred tombs with pick axes. They said the Islamists appeared to be planning "the total destruction of Timbuktu".

They pointed to the precedent of Afghanistan's Buddha statues in Bamyan, blown up in 2001 by the Taliban, and warned that "one of the most ancient African temples" was "disappearing under our very eyes".

The ambassadors said this was "a crime against history" and called on governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, mass media, public opinion, and "all people of good will, not to allow the vandals to wipe out these monuments which have witnessed important events of human history."

Mali's Minister of Culture, Fadima Diallo thanked the Committee for its support and vowed that the presumed perpetrators would be prosecuted and would account for their acts. She said her country, "a tolerant and hospitable land, heir to several secular civilizations, respectful of property and personal rights, will remain upright and retain its dignity."

Yesterday, the Committee decided to call on the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to create a special fund to help Mali in the conservation of its cultural heritage. It appealed to member states as well as the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to provide financial resources to this Fund.

The decision strongly condemned the acts of destruction of mausoleums in the World Heritage property of Timbuktu and called for an end to these "repugnant acts".