Art Law: Selected Problems - Seminar

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Mrs. Anne Coffin Hanson

College Art Association of America

432 Park Avenue South

New York, NY 10016

Dear Mrs. Hanson:

I am writing in response to your letter of March 22 []1972] to President Nixon, concerning the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. We think that the Convention contains many important and worthwhile provisions. If we were to become a party, we would have to be sure that we could live up to all of the provisions of the Convention under all circumstances. The major difficulty is that adherence to the Convention would seriously limit the options of the United States in the event of nuclear war or even in some cases of conventional bombardment. We hope as fervently as you undoubtedly do that these situations will not occur, but if we are to limit our options, it is our view that this ought to be done in a straightforward manner and not under the guise of providing certain protection for cultural property. We can understand that certain other nuclear powers have for one reason or another become party to this convention, but we seriously doubt that they would in fact be ready to live up to it in all circumstances. For our part, the United States Government has, buy its actions, shown itself ready to take all possible measures to provide protection to important cultural property. We have often expressed our concern for the preservation of important cultural property situated in areas of armed conflict. Our military instructions are clear in this regard, and the Department of State has used appropriate diplomatic channels to seek to influence others to take similar care that important cultural property be preserved. We have also supported the efforts of UNESCO in this area under the provisions of Article 23 of the 1954 Hague Convention.

We appreciate having received a copy of your January 27 resolution on this topic, and we shall certainly take the views contained in it into account in any future reconsideration of our position on this Convention.

Ronald J. Bettauer

Attorney, Office of the Legal Adviser Department of State