Unesco

[aue-mike]

All:

We have added a simple letter on the AUE website that reflects but a few of the important concerns divers should have with this proposed legislation. If you would like to support the efforts to defeat this ill-thought out treaty, you can easily cut and paste the letter and then with one click of the mouse, e-mail the entire U.S. delegation to let them know where you, and fellow divers, stand on this issue.

To save bandwidth, if you do not support our attempts to derail this trainwreck of legislation, please just delete this message.

:boom:

http://www.mikey.net/aue/unesco.htm

:boom:

Thank you,

 

[Sea Squirt]

Does this only apply to divers (sorry I haven't read all the background)? How would it affect explorers/ scientists like Robert Ballard?

 

[aue-mike]

I definitely encourage you to read the document, which is linked on the AUE site.

This potentially affects everyone, from divers to fishermen to archaeologists. However, this treaty provides a mechanism for shipwrecks to be "closed" to divers, thus transforming a public resource into a private resource for those few professional and well-funded archaeologists.

Be afraid, be very afraid...

Cheers,

 

[njdiver1]

You might try these pages to read more:

imacdigest.com

scubanj.org

Also the USA is not a member of UNESCO and therefore has little influence in the treaty's makeup. The NJCDC has been following this for years. :boom:

 

[njdiver1]

Garnered this from Diverlink forum this morning:

UNESCO adopts convention to protect sunken treasure PARIS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A convention outlawing the plunder of ancient shipwrecks and sunken cities was adopted by the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Friday, a spokeswoman said. The Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, which took experts four years to finalize, bans treasure hunters from underwater archaeological sites, overriding objections from commercial salvage operators. UNESCO said underwater goldmines reap treasure hunters hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of the world's cultural heritage. Passed by a vote of 87 to four with 15 abstentions by the plenary session of the Paris-based body's conference, the convention would enter into force once 20 countries had ratified it. The convention provides for sanctions against violations of the new code and gives states powers to seize any illegally recovered underwater treasures that enter their territory. The International Salvage Union (ISU) and maritime law organizations say the wording is at odds with existing treaties, including the 1982 Law of the Sea, that they say enshrine laws of ownership and age-old rights of salvage.
(end)
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out and how it affects the average sport diver and wreck diver. Personally, I'm not overly optimistic.
Chuck R
;-0

 

[njdiver1]

http://www.unesco.org/confgen/press_rel/291001_subaqua.shtml


http://www.unesco.org/culture/legalprotection/water/html_eng/index_en.shtml


http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001232/123278e.pdf


;-0