Objectives and Effective Factors in Punishing the Perpetrators of Crimes against Cultural Heritage in the Light of the Al-Mahdi Case and the Procedure of the International Criminal Court

Cultural heritage has always been an attractive target for achieving the economic, religious and political goals of organized criminals and terrorists in internal, regional and international armed conflicts, so supporting this heritage considering that at the international level It is respected by the world and human society, it has always been a matter of consensus, approval and emphasis, and this support, although incomplete, has been reflected in various legal and judicial, political and ideological dimensions. One of the influential institutions that has an effective capacity to support these works at the international level is the International Criminal Court. Although the possibility of filing lawsuits involving the protection of world cultural heritage in the court is not explicitly mentioned, but the review of the existing procedure confirms the jurisdiction of the court in dealing with these issues. One of the important cases in this regard is reflected in the lawsuit of the court prosecutor against Al-Mahdi, which investigation will be the desired military organizer including the goals and effective components in punishing the perpetrators of crimes against cultural heritage. This article seeks to explain the objectives and effective components in punishing perpetrators of crimes against cultural heritage in the International Criminal Court and states that due to the lack of a uniform punishment model in the court’s procedure, the efficient protection of cultural heritage relies on the traditional goals of punishment. Such as punishment, rehabilitation and deterrence are not enough, and other goals such as restoration and revival of historical and cultural monuments and compensation for the emotional pain of the victims who have a historical and religious connection with these places, are more important than the traditional aspect of the goals of punishment, and the criminal punishment system should be based on be organized on these issue.