The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution designed to deter wilful destruction and looting of cultural heritage sites – potentially making such activities punishable as war crimes.

The resolution, passed on 24 March at a meeting in New York, strengthens the UN’s message that attacks on important and historical world heritage sites in acts of conflict or terrorism cannot be tolerated.

The resolution states that unlawful attacks against cultural, educational or religious sites or historic monuments can be classes under international law as a war crime and those who carry out such attacks may be tried accordingly.

“The deliberate destruction of heritage is a war crime,” said UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova. “It has become a tactic of war to tear societies over the long term, in a strategy of cultural cleansing. This is why defending cultural heritage is more than a cultural issue, it is a security imperative, inseparable from that of defending human lives.”

“Weapons are not enough to defeat violent extremism. Building peace requires culture also; it requires education, prevention, and the transmission of heritage. This is the message of this historic resolution,” she said.

Resolution 2347 also addresses the illicit trafficking of antiquities, money from which can be used to fund terrorist groups. It cements a 2015 resolution that prohibits trade in cultural artefacts from Iraq and Syria.

“In a global movement launched by UNESCO, some 50 states have strengthened their legislation and are sharing information and data, to dismantle trafficking routes, to facilitate restitutions,” said Bokova. “Together, UNESCO, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, customs services, the private sector and museums are all bolstering cooperation, coordinating new action.”

The destruction of ancient sites and theft from shrines and monuments in war zones and areas of conflict has long posed a challenge to those who try to protect these nations’ heritage.

Recent attacks by ISIS on cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Syria have galvanised efforts by the UN to do more. In 2015, IS militants focused sustained attacks on Iraq’s archaeological sites, museums and religious buildings, often with the aim of selling the artefacts to fund the group’s activities.