Terrorism and the Loss of Cultural Heritage: The Case of ISIS in Iraq and Syria

Since 2014, ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Sham) has committed many terrorist crimes, which is considered serious international crimes such as crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes; they claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and military personnel, demolished places of worship and destroyed antiquities and historical sites in the areas that controlled. Indeed, Iraq and Syria were the most affected countries. In this chapter, a definition of the legal status of the territorial power IS (Islamic state) under International Law will be presented, especially that IS declared itself a state without the recognition of other states and it dissociated itself from the body of international law. Along with a brief review of the tangible cultural heritage loss, the ideology of ISIS behind this systematic destruction of historical sites and objects will be clarified. Moreover, the research will put light on the international actions applied by other states to limit such cultural crimes. Based on the previous definitions and the achieved experiences and results, the chapter will be ended by proposing a mechanism of transitional justice to avoid future rising feelings of revenge, which may lead to new crimes that destroy societies and cultural heritage.