ITH/10/5.COM/CONF.202/INF.6 Decision 5.COM 6
266. The Chairperson began by informing the Committee of the Bureau meeting, which took place earlier in the morning so as to organize the work on a number of items that had yet to be completed; a revised timetable was duly circulated [ITH/10/5.COM/CONF.202/INF.2.1 Rev.]. With regard to item 7, it would be split into three parts: the terms of reference of the Subsidiary Body; the admissibility of nominations received by the Secretariat during the period August 2009–August 2010; and the working methods of the Subsidiary Body. This would be followed by item 8 and the sole request from Belarus. Item 9 on the establishment of a consultative body would be treated in the same way as item 6, and would have 56 files to examine: 33 for the Urgent Safeguarding List, 15 for the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices and 8 International Assistance Requests.
267. Returning to the nomination on Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars, Armenian cross-stones from Armenia, the Chairperson recalled that the nomination had raised a number of concerns but, over the course of the week, the delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia had had bilateral discussions, and had reached a solution that was satisfactory to
both parties. As a result, modifications to the decision had been circulated with a revised title to the nomination. The Chairperson invited the Chairperson of the Subsidiary Body to read the replacement text.
268. The Chairperson of the Subsidiary Body read out revised draft decision 5.COM 6.1 that read, paragraph 1: ‘Takes note that Armenia has nominated Armenian cross-stones art.
Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; paragraph 2, ‘Decides that, from the information provided in nomination file No. 00434, Armenian cross-stones art. Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars satisfy the criteria for inscription on the Representative List, as follows, R1: The symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars are transmitted from generation to generation and continuously recreated to satisfy the artist’s creativity, constituting a distinctive symbol of the identity of Armenian communities at home and abroad [criteria R3, R4 and R5 remain unchanged]; paragraph 3, ‘Inscribes the Armenian cross-stones art. Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’; paragraph 4, ‘Invites the State Party to provide to the Secretariat a nomination form that reflects the modified text circulated to the Committee during its debate.’
269. Before proceeding further the Chairperson asked Armenia to confirm its acceptance of the proposed amendment. In the spirit of mutual respect and inter-cultural dialogue, the delegation of Armenia accepted the amendment and took the opportunity to thank the Secretary, the Secretariat and the delegation of Azerbaijan.
270. Having reached agreement in the spirit of cooperation and consensus, the delegation of Azerbaijan thanked the delegation of Armenia for its constructive approach, and gave thanks to the Secretary for her efforts and dedication in bringing the two communities together in a genuine exchange of inter-cultural dialogue, as well as the Secretariat and the Committee.
271. The delegation of Croatia wished to congratulate Armenia for finding a solution based on mutual respect, which was very much in line with the spirit of the Convention.
272. Seeing no further objection, the Chairperson of the Committee declared adopted decision 5.COM 6.1 to inscribe Armenian cross-stones art. Symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars, nominated by Armenia, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
273. The Chairperson was pleased to note the spirit of consensus and dialogue.
274. The delegation of Armenia spoke of its honour that so many delegates had taken the time to examine the nomination and was happy that it had taken place on the day of an important Muslim festival that preached tolerance and peace. The delegation explained that the element was rooted in the Christian faith and its inscription showed that it surpassed all prejudice and conflicts, and fostered inter-cultural dialogue. The delegation expressed gratitude towards the Subsidiary Body, the Committee and the fine diplomacy exercised by the Secretary.
275. The Chairperson moved to the adoption of the introduction to the decision as projected on the screen, and invited Albania to present its proposal for additional paragraphs.
276. The delegation of Albania read out its proposal for a paragraph 4, ‘Thanks the Subsidiary Body for the excellent quality of its work and congratulates all the communities, groups and individuals whose intangible cultural heritage has been inscribed on the Representative List’, and for paragraph 5, ‘Regrets that no candidatures from Africa were inscribed and hopes that the visibility of the Convention’s first meeting in the region will stimulate States to consider submitting nominations’, and for paragraph 6, ‘Acknowledges with gratitude the contributions of several States Parties that will allow the organization in the coming year to carry out a systematic global strategy of strengthening national capacities in developing countries, particularly in Africa’, and paragraph 7, ‘Requests State Parties to take all necessary measures to avoid any commercial over-exploitation of inscribed elements, in particular
generic elements covering several areas, through the use of the Convention emblem for the instrumentalization or labelling of the elements for commercial purposes’.
277. Related to the issue of correspondence received from individuals and organizations, the delegation of Italy prepared, in cooperation with the Secretariat, an additional paragraph that read: ‘Requests the Secretariat to propose, for its sixth session, guidelines for the treatment of correspondence received by the Secretariat from the public or other concerned parties concerning nominations, and for their timely communication to the submitting States.’
278. The delegation of the Republic of Korea wished to propose a sentence on establishing a cooperation mechanism, supported from a number of delegations, which read: ‘Further requests the Secretariat to propose, for its sixth session, an information sharing mechanism through which States Parties make known their intention to submit nominations, so as to encourage, where relevant, the submission of multi-national nominations.’
279. The delegation of Azerbaijan proposed an amendment related to references cited in nomination files to conflicts and war and other similar events that might provoke misunderstanding between communities, which read: ‘Takes note that elements containing references to conflicts and war or any event which might provoke misunderstanding among communities should be avoided in nomination files with a view to encouraging dialogue and mutual respect among groups, communities and individuals.’
280. Referring to paragraph 7 proposed by Albania, the delegation of Cyprus wondered whether it only made reference to elements in the present cycle or to all elements, as this matter was sufficiently covered in the Operational Directives.
281. Commenting on the working methodology of the Committee, the delegation of China first thanked the delegations for its proposed amendments to the draft but wished to recall that information had to be received by the Committee four weeks prior to the Committee session meeting, and having only examined the original form of the draft, called for requisite time to study the additional paragraphs, notwithstanding the overall positive and constructive proposals.
282. The Chairperson reminded the Committee that it had the authority to recommend the examination of paragraphs at a later time should the Committee so wish in order to allow Members to carefully examine the proposed amendments.
283. Referring to the proposed paragraph 7 made by Albania, the delegation of Morocco reiterated the remark by Cyprus stating that the Operational Directives very clearly covered the subject, and was therefore unnecessary here but would concede to the request, and preferred the use of ‘reminds’ in the place of ‘requests’. The delegation also requested that the amendments be circulated in paper form for further examination.
284. The delegation of the Republic of Korea supported the remarks made by China and asked that the Committee be given more time to study the amendments.
285. The delegation of Kenya felt encouraged by the proposed paragraphs by Albania and joined in acknowledging gratitude towards States Parties in the offers and contributions made, especially with respect to capacity building in Africa. Moreover, a systematic and well coordinated stock-taking of the different situations and challenges was called for, which the Secretariat could perhaps undertake in order to establish priorities and to identify the impediments to submitting nominations, national inventories and so on.
286. The delegations of Japan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Paraguay (on behalf of Group III) and Croatia joined in support of the proposal by China and the Republic of Korea.
287. The Chairperson noted a consensus towards suspending the decision until such time as the proposed amendments had been circulated and examined in more detail.
288. The delegation of Morocco repeated its earlier request to replace ‘requests’ with ‘reminds’.
289. The delegation of Indonesia supported the proposal by China, the remark by Morocco concerning paragraph 7, and the statements made by Kenya and Albania on paragraph 6.
290. The Chairperson duly adjourned the session.