{"id":403,"date":"2013-01-28T16:53:27","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T16:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/?p=403"},"modified":"2013-01-28T21:12:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T21:12:32","slug":"archives-as-targets-for-destruction-in-timbuktu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/2013\/01\/28\/archives-as-targets-for-destruction-in-timbuktu\/","title":{"rendered":"Archives as targets for destruction in Timbuktu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the\u00a0recent ongoing clash between Islamist militants and the Malian government forces, backed by French military support, thousands of historical records and manuscripts have been burned in Timbuktu. Records <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/world\/2013\/jan\/28\/timbuktu-library-centuries-african-history\">dating back 1204<\/a>, were targeted by the militants who were using the Amed Baba Institute as sleeping quarters, where the archives are housed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These records had been designtated as a <a href=\"http:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/en\/list\/\">World Heritage site by UNESCO<\/a>, and were undergoing a digitization project in conjunction with Institutions in Norway and Luxembourg.\u00a0 A prime example of the use value of digitizing at risk\u00a0collections for future electronic preservation and use, even archives that may\u00a0appear to\u00a0be protected\u00a0under the UNESCO designation.\u00a0 Having also destroyed mausoleums and shrines to Sufi saints throughout the city, it is evident that heritage of a people\u00a0is under attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As an\u00a0archivist, the alarms\u00a0immediately go off when the legacy of a people are designated\u00a0as\u00a0targets in war, as they have been countless times throughout history.\u00a0 However, in the immediacy of\u00a0events, we far off onlookers must retain an awareness of violence happening to people first and foremost\u00a0and not just\u00a0property &#8211; be it commercial, private, or State owned.\u00a0 These are all crimes, but protection of people and their rights is a historical preservation in itself.\u00a0 What good is protecting a statue if 10 civilians were killed across the street from it?\u00a0 What\u00a0story is lost when endangered\u00a0peoples\u00a0of our time are\u00a0wiped out?\u00a0 The\u00a0users of archives and the witness to events are primary sources that embody an archive.\u00a0 It is\u00a0through the preservation of life that records are given meaning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Archives and Special Collections at the University of Connecticut holds <a href=\"http:\/\/sudan.uconn.edu\/\">records relating to the Darfuri people<\/a> and their existence in refugee camps which\u00a0exemplifies a people under threat\u00a0without land, losing their\u00a0traditions\u00a0and\u00a0culture.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the\u00a0recent ongoing clash between Islamist militants and the Malian government forces, backed by French military support, thousands of historical records and manuscripts have been burned in Timbuktu. Records dating back 1204, were targeted by the militants who were using &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/2013\/01\/28\/archives-as-targets-for-destruction-in-timbuktu\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,19,20],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9NL7Z-6v","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/humanrights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}