ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 58th session (24 February – 4 April 2025)
Interactive Dialogue: The Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
Thank you Mr. President.
We thank the Special Rapporteur for her Report on an issue of emerging importance. It is vital that Special Rapporteurs take up thematic issues at the coalface of technological advancement, to encourage both state and non-state actors to approach their work with the international human rights framework at front of mind.
The present Report’s emphasis on freedom of expression, open access, and community-ownership over digital cultural heritage is incredibly important. Cultural heritage emphasises our shared understanding of a common humanity, and shapes our collective identity and memory.
Cultural heritage can help to emphasise commonalities over divides, and as an educational tool, digital cultural heritage can help combat intolerance and hate. Expanding access is an important step in this regard, but it is vital that, through the digitisation process, narratives around cultural heritage are not captured for the oppression or erasure of identities.
Moreover, the digitization of cultural heritage should not be used in tandem with the destruction of tangible cultural heritage. Without the requisite protections for the source material, powerful actors can misuse digital cultural heritage. Digitisation should never be used as a cover for the suppression of expression or the destruction of heritage.
The erasure of the source community’s identity and the subsumation into that of a more powerful state is a real risk. The Special Rapporteur notes several examples of this, and we add that the non-religious should be allowed to maintain ownership over their cultural heritage, free from the capture of religious majorities. Finally, colonialism has been an issue which has plagued the ownership of cultural heritage, and patterns should not be replicated. Digital cultural heritage provides us with an opportunity to right the mistakes of past preservation.
Thank you.
'Digitial cultural heritage and human rights', Humanists International