The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict

(The Hague, 1954) and its Protocol: ratified by Cambodia in 1962.

The purpose of this Convention is the protection of a range of cultural property, both moveable and immoveable, such as monuments, sites, artefacts, books, buildings and libraries. It is the first international convention which is specifically aimed at the protection of cultural property. According to the Convention, the safeguarding of such property implies that the State concerned will take all necessary protective measures in time of peace. In time of armed conflict, respect of the protected property is an obliga-tion both in the territorial State and in the territory of the enemies.This Convention also foresees a stronger protection for selected monuments and refuges that are intended to shelter moveable cultural property in the event of armed conflict. At the request of the State Parties to the Convention they can be placed under special protection provided that they are situated an adequate distance away from any large industrial or military center. They are listed in the "International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection." A Protocol to the Convention contains regulations and interdiction of exportation of cultural property in the event of occupation. The Hague Convention provided protection to the Angkorian cultural heritage particularly in the early 1970s before the Siem Reap region was decisively engulfed in the war.