The International Council on Archives (ICA) is profoundly concerned at published reports of burning of archives and libraries, removal of government records and ransacking of cultural institutions in Iraq. ICA supports all endeavours to reconstruct Iraq's information infrastructure and conserve the precious documentary heritage which remains.

ICA calls on the United States, United Kingdom and Coalition forces in Iraq to facilitate the protection of the records and archives of Iraq and to enable damage to be assessed and plans to be made for recovery.

The international archival community is prepared to support Iraqi colleagues in assessing the conservation needs of records and repositories, in strengthening and retraining archives professionals, and in reconstructing the archival and records management infrastructure. ICA members are also willing to play a role in assessment of damage and in salvage operations directed by Iraqi archival institutions.

Government records provide the documentation required to uphold individual Iraqis' rights by proving their identities, place of birth, ethnic identities and property rights. Such records are vital as evidence to document the violation of rights in repressive regimes, and must be protected as a basis for the future reconciliation. Displaced Iraqi people, interim administrators and incoming governments will need these records.

Experience in similar conflicts demonstrates the threat to records and archives during the conflict and transition. Records were targeted for destruction or removal in Bosnia and Kosovo, hindering greatly the return of families to their former homes. It is reported that records of government agencies and security services have been removed or destroyed in Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk and other Iraqi cities.

ICA is also alarmed at the ransacking of Iraq's cultural heritage. Iraq's museums, libraries and archives contain irreplaceable clay tablets, ancient manuscripts and other records documenting the immensely rich history of this 'cradle of civilisation'. The burning of Iraq's National Library and Archives, ransacking of cultural institutions and destruction of other collections sadden both the archival profession and the world's scholarly community. The pillage and destruction of documentary heritage in the collections of Iraq's museums, libraries and archives is an immeasurable loss to the memory of the world.

ICA urges all countries to take immediate steps to monitor the trade in antiquities, including documents; and to hold all imported objects which originate in Iraq or are significant to the heritage of that region which have no clear provenance. We call on all archives, libraries and museums, together with antiquities dealers and collectors worldwide, to report all offers to them to purchase objects and documents which they suspect may have been looted from Iraq.

Joan van Albada
Secretary General, International Council on Archives