A/RES/73/130
Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin
Intangible Cultural Heritage 7 and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, 8
Appreciating the decisions of the fourth meeting of States parties to the 1970
Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and
Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, held in May 2017 , which encouraged all
States parties to ensure the exchange of experiences and the promotion of good
practices with regard to countering trafficking in cultural property and with regard to
its return or restitution to the countries of origin, underlined the obligation of all
States parties to urgently implement the provisions of Security Council resolutions
2199 (2015) of 12 February 2015, in particular paragraphs 15 to 17, and 2253 (2015)
of 17 December 2015, in particular paragraph 15, and invited States parties to provide
information regularly to the secretariat of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization on the implementation of Council resolutions 2199 (2015),
2253 (2015), and 2347 (2017) of 24 March 2017,
Noting the adoption of the United Nations Convention on J urisdictional
Immunities of States and Their Property on 2 December 2004, 9 as it might apply to
cultural property,
Recalling the adoption by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 1 7 October 2003 of the
Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage, 10
Noting the adoption by the General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 17 November 2015 of the
Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage,
including in digital form, 11 and the Recommendation concerning the protection and
promotion of museums and collections, their diversity and their role in societ y, 12
Recalling that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 13 includes, inter
alia, a pledge to foster intercultural understanding, tolerance, mutual respect and an
ethic of global citizenship and shared responsibility, an acknowledgement of the
natural and cultural diversity of the world and a recognition that all cultures and
civilizations can contribute to, and are crucial enablers of, sustainable development,
as well as targets related to the protection and return or restitution of cultural property,
Recalling also its resolution 69/196 of 18 December 2014, by which it adopted
the International Guidelines for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses
with Respect to Trafficking in Cultural Property and Other Related Offences, and
acknowledging with appreciation the role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime in providing advisory services and technical assistance to Member States, upon
their request, in the areas of crime prevention and criminal justice responses with
respect to such trafficking,
Recalling further the Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice into the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and
Economic Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and
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7
8
9
10
11
12
13
2/9
Ibid., vol. 2368, No. 42671.
Ibid., vol. 2440, No. 43977.
Resolution 59/38, annex.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Records of the General
Conference, Thirty-second Session, Paris, 29 September–17 October 2003, vol. 1, Resolutions,
sect. IV, resolution 33, annex.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Records of the General
Conference, Thirty-eighth Session, Paris, 3–18 November 2015, vol. 1, Resolutions, annex V.
Ibid., annex IV.
Resolution 70/1.
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