Criminal Protection of the Cultural Heritage of the Holy Al-Askari Shrine

Abstract

 Cultural heritage has become of great importance to the majority of peoples, regardless of its type or location, and whether it is found at holy shrines or elsewhere. There is a strong conviction among the majority of specialists that criminal protection must be provided to prevent attacks on these historical, artistic and social monuments, whose roots date back hundreds of years. Hence, the framework of our research focuses on identifying and protecting the heritage of the Holy Al-Askari Shrine. Preserving this heritage is linked to cultivating awareness among individuals through the provision of legal texts that criminalize attacks on it.

The holy shrine has been subjected to numerous attempts to obliterate its heritage features, whether tangible or intangible. Indeed, attacks on intangible features are more dangerous than attacks on tangible ones, as they relate to religious matters and beliefs. These attempts were carried out by terrorist groups; therefore, it is necessary to provide criminal protection by criminalizing and punishing those who attack the heritage of these holy shrines. Providing this protection requires extending the philosophy of criminalization and punishment so as to punish all those who obliterate the features of the holy shrines.

Hence, we decided to address the general provisions of criminal law, represented by the Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, as amended, and the provisions contained in special legislation, represented by the Iraqi Antiquities and Heritage Law No. 55 of 2002 and the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, in addition to some other special legal texts that provide protection for cultural heritage, as well as the legal importance of preserving the heritage of the Holy Al-Askari Shrine, which is considered part of Iraqi heritage.

At the end of our research, we attempted to assess the sufficiency of the legal texts in protecting the heritage of the holy shrine, especially during the period when the shrine was attacked in 2006, and to identify the loopholes in the legal texts intended to provide such protection for the holy shrines.