海角大神

A former Islamist rebel admitted on Monday to destroying Muslim shrines in Mali and begged forgiveness on the opening day of his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Ahmad al-Fahdi al-Mahdi said he had been caught in an 鈥渆vil wave鈥� during Mali鈥檚 2012 civil war when he led a jihadi team armed with pickaxes that leveled 14 adobe mausoleums in the city of Timbuktu. The buildings 鈥� UNESCO World Heritage sites 鈥� had housed the tombs of Muslim scholar-saints since the 14th century.

Mr. Mahdi is the first man to appear before the ICC charged with cultural destruction as a war crime. Prosecutors hope that the case will draw attention to the increasingly common attacks on cultural and religious sites in Iraq and Syria by Islamic State (IS).

鈥淭his prosecution is timely鈥� in light of the 鈥渟tark increase in crimes against cultural property鈥� in war zones, says Richard Dicker, head of the International Justice program at Human Rights Watch.

The world first noticed the trend when Taliban fighters in Afghanistan blew up two monumental Buddha statues in 2003. IS fighters burned down the Mosul library in Iraq last year, and also blew up monuments at the Roman site of Palmyra in Syria.

Until now, the ICC and other international courts have focused on crimes against individuals, such as murder, rape, and torture.

While those kinds of crimes 鈥渉ave an immediate impact,鈥� says Erica Bussey, a senior legal adviser to Amnesty International, 鈥渢he consequences of cultural destruction go beyond the victims; it鈥檚 an attack on people's cultural identity.鈥�

鈥淭he intention in almost every case is to attack the dignity鈥� of those who attach importance to the wrecked buildings or monuments, says Richard Goldstone, the first chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Worse, he says, such attacks 鈥渟hould be seen as a signal of serious persecution to follow,鈥� since they are often 鈥減recursors to crimes against humanity such as ethnic cleansing.鈥�

鈥淭he destruction of culture is a central element of a global strategy of hatred,鈥� wrote Irina Bokova, the head of UNESCO, recently. 鈥淭he protection of such heritage 鈥� including by ending impunity for crimes 鈥� must 鈥� move to the forefront of peacebuilding."

For the people of Timbuktu, freed from Islamist occupation by French troops in 2013, Mahdi鈥檚 trial is 鈥渁 vindication of the importance of their culture and the place these shrines hold 鈥� as symbols of the culture,鈥� says Cynthia Schneider, co-director of the Timbuktu Renaissance initiative.

They were built at the height of Timbuktu鈥檚 cultural glory as a Sufi center of learning, noted for its diversity, plurality, and spirit of inquiry. The shrines are 鈥渁 foundation of civilization in Timbuktu,鈥� says Dr. Schneider, who also teaches diplomacy at Georgetown University in Washington.

Mahdi, a member of the al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine group, targeted the shrines 鈥減recisely in light [of] and because of their religious and historical character,鈥� according to the ICC charge sheet.

Mahdi has pleaded guilty to the charges, expressing regret for his actions, and in return is expected to receive considerably less than the maximum 30-year jail sentence he faces.

But the trial 鈥渟hows that the international community takes these things seriously,鈥� says Judge Goldstone. While IS commanders may hold little regard for the ICC, he says, 鈥渞egular and serious investigations and prosecutions will deter at least some of them, and that is ample justification.鈥澛�