Cultural Blue Berets: The United Nations’ Way Towards Peace and Preservation

The history of the United Nations peacekeepers goes back to 1948 when 36 unarmed military observers went to supervise the Arab-Israeli war. Since then, it has grown enormously for the cause of world peace, tranquillity and the larger benefit of humanity. The UN peacekeepers initiated as a task force working to ease the tension and prepare grounds for negotiated settlements, maintaining their impartial presence. There are 62,289 Military personnel and civilian police serving in 16 current peacekeeping operations as of 30 September 2004. Some 102 countries are contributing military personnel and civilian police to this effort. Most recently, on October 27, 2004, the UN announced the creation of a new kind of rapid action force designated as the ‘cultural blue beret’ to step in wherever art treasures are threatened by armed conflict and natural disaster.

The formation of cultural blue berets, a novel initiative, came at the right time, keeping in mind the ongoing armed conflicts and civil unrest around the world, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq in the recent past. Since the Gulf War of 1991, museums in Iraq have fallen prey to large-scale plundering. The last year’s looting of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad and the burning of the city's libraries, major worldwide efforts have focused on rebuilding Iraq's cultural institutions and conserving damaged artefacts. In Afghanistan, too, the Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 drew international attention and called for action.

Natural disasters like floods and earthquakes can be as ruinous as violent human interference. The earthquake that struck the Iranian city of Bam, where a two-thousand-year-old mud-brick citadel fell, or in Gujarat (India), where 80% of heritage structures suffered some damage, are the most recent examples. Fortunately, cultural blue berets have taken into consideration both aspects. The UN has signed an agreement with the Italian Government to' safeguard, restore and protect the natural and cultural heritage of countries affected by conflict or natural catastrophe.’ The deal seeks the involvement of engineers, architects, archaeologists, art historians, seismologists, and art restorers in the illegal trafficking of artworks, depending upon the circumstances.

The cultural blue berets will initially be formed entirely of Italians since Italy was responsible for protecting and restoring Iraq’s cultural heritage after establishing a provisional government in Baghdad. Under the terms of the process, the affected country's government will first contact UNESCO officials in Paris, who would judge the intensity of the damage and decide on the urgency of the intervention. They will then contact Rome to set up an ad-hoc team to be called the Emergency Action Group to deal with the damage or the threat.

The vital question is to what extent the cultural blue berets would be sensitive and committed to the cause of cultural heritage preservation and conservation. The increased incidence of atrocities committed by the UN peacekeepers hardly justifies their accountability for the cause. The reported incident of a mental hospital in Bosnia, guarded by the peacekeepers, being turned into a hub of anti-social activities or the ‘frenzy looting‘ that took place in Liberia in 1996, where peacekeepers used UN vehicles to make off the stolen goods, force us to rethink about the UN code of personal conduct of blue helmets—to respect and regard the human rights of all. Such reported incidents may be taken as the case of “rotten apples” in every structure, but it's still an issue of concern.

However, the contributions of the UN peacekeepers are highly commendable throughout human history, which is evident in the fact that they won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. From supervising cease-fires to helping promote national reconciliation, even humanitarian tasks have often been brought under their purview. And they have proved themselves time and again. Under such circumstances, the effectiveness of cultural blue berets depends upon the willingness of the peacekeepers and the community participation of the concerned country. Unesco’s Director-General insists that the job of cultural blue berets is “ not only to prevent destruction but also to contribute assistance to reconstruction”, which could be a positive start. Italy has just made the beginning; it is not too long before we see other countries follow the path.