Statement for Urgent Protection of Iraqi Museums and Cultural Heritage
By Japan Society for Southeast Asian Archaeology

　Japan Society for Southeast Asian Archaeology (JSSAA), as the situation of the academic society that studies archaeology in Southeast Asia where the cultural heritage has been destroyed and damaged by war, notes with alarm and extreme concern the unfolding situation in Iraq where damage and looting of museums and archaeological sites were caused by war.
　JSSAA protests all of the damage and looting of museums and archaeological sites in Iraq, and urges all means possible to protect the irreplaceable cultural heritage of the country held in museums and archaeological sites.
JSSA
- endorses the pivotal role of the UN and UNESCO and their Conventions in the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage
- calls for Japanese Government to support all means to protect and conserve the cultural heritage, and also to prohibit to import the looted cultural heritage into Japan
- calls for the forces and the police in Iraq to take a far more proactive stance in the protection of cultural heritage than it appears happened so far
- urges the forces and the police in Iraq to identify, liaise with and support key individuals within the Ministry of Culture and Department of Antiquities.