A/71/317 restrictions on the travel of those working to protect heritage. As a consequence, their access to necessary guidance and support is denied and their access to cultural heritage is limited. 74. Article 15 of the 1954 Hague Convention provides that personnel engaged in the protection of cultural heritage are to be respected and must be allowed to carry on their work if they and the cultural property for which they are responsible fall into the hands of an opposing State party. In accordance with article 17 (2) (c) of the Convention, the distinctive emblem of cultural property, the Blue Shield, may be employed as a means of identification of such persons. 75. In many circumstances, defenders of cultural heritage acting in accordance with international human rights norms should be recognized as cultural rights defenders, and thus as human rights defenders. In line with the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Orga ns of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, States should recognize the legitimacy of their work, address the threats and risks that they face and guarantee them, in their defence of human rights, a sa fe, enabling environment. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 76. Today, in our collective role as custodians of the past achievements of humanity, we are faced with a stark choice. Will we engage with cultural heritage in its diversity in such a way as to allow cultural rights to flourish and will we protect it, teach youth about it, learn from it and from the history of its destruction, and make use of heritage and its reconstruction to understand ourselves and find solutions to the grave problems that we face? Will we be up to the challenge of protecting the heritage of humanity? If the answer is no, the rights of current generations will be violated, and we will incur the scorn of future generations. Would we not prefer to bequeath a richer legacy? 77. The intentional destruction of cultural heritage is a human rights issue. The approach to stopping it needs to be a holistic one, encompassing all regions, focused on both prevention and punishment, and targeting acts committed by both State and non-State actors, in conflict and non-conflict situations. We must not only respond urgently, but also take the long view. 78. To effectively prevent and stop intentional destruction of cultural heritage as a violation of human rights, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States: (a) Respect and protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage, both nationally and transnationally; (b) Ratify the core cultural heritage conventions, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1954 and 1999 Protocols thereto, and other relevant standards, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol thereto, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949; and urgently enact implementing legislation so as to enable full implementation of those conventions; 16-13742 21/24