Dziedzictwo kulturowe a prawa człowieka

Abstract

This article aims at presenting the issue of the protection of cultural heritage and its relation to human rights. Current events in the Middle-East and cases of intentional de-struction of cultural goods seem to show that the notion of cultural heritage protection as a part of humanitarian law appears to be insufficient. The link between culture and human beings has to be reinforced. Firstly, cultural rights as such and their place in the universal system of human rights are introduced. The next part presents the attempts at applying those rights to cultural her-itage and the steps which are being taken by international organizations. Based on reports from the Special reporter in the field of cultural rights, the article then proceeds with an analysis of several recent statements released by the United Nations Human Rights Coun-cil and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.