A/HRC/37/29 terror attacks on cultural sites, such as the attack on the Islamic Museum in 2014 and the destruction of one of Egypt’s most historic churches in 2017. 45. The representative of Ethiopia explained that the country had nine tangible and three intangible cultural heritage sites listed in the UNESCO heritage lists. Ethiopia had been a victim of plundering and looting of its heritage. A greater danger was the deliberate destruction of heritage as part of the deculturalization process used by terrorist groups. 46. The representative of Iraq recalled that the country had been the subject of terrorist attacks that destroyed and pillaged historic sites, such as Jonah’s tomb, a number of religious sites, churches, mosques and, more recently, the al-Nuri mosque and the al-Hadba minaret. The representative of RASHID International welcomed the move by Iraq towards acceding to the Second Protocol to The Hague Convention. 47. The representative of Cyprus noted the country’s rich tradition of intangible cultural heritage. In implementing the 2003 UNESCO Convention, the Government had adopted the following measures: (a) compiling and publishing a first register of heritage elements in the Cyprus Research Centre’s Oral Tradition Archive; (b) updating annually the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, with the involvement of concerned populations; (c) launching a funding scheme to support activities to safeguard elements in the National Inventory; (d) providing training to community members on the identification of their intangible cultural heritage and the elaboration of safeguarding measures; and (e) collaborating with other countries on the identification of common heritage elements for nomination to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 48. The representative of the National Human Rights Council of Morocco said that the Council had drawn the attention of the national authorities to the destruction of prehistoric and proto-historic sites, in particular engravings in the southern provinces, by construction and road work companies. The Council had also underscored the risk of destruction of intangible cultural heritage by discriminatory policies that ran counter to the history of countries and their cultures. A representative of civil society mentioned that an indigenous language, Tamazight, was being destroyed by fundamentalism. IV. Conditions for meaningful engagement of rights holders A. Statements by panellists 49. Mr. Mancisidor stressed that the destruction of cultural heritage was a human rights violation, not merely the destruction of stones. He recalled general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Participation was part of the normative content of the right enshrined in article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He noted that participation meant to act in freedom, to have the ability to access heritage, but also to construct, modify and interact with heritage. 50. Mr. Mancisidor noted that the more a community felt that heritage was useful for its life, identity and living conditions, the more willing it would be to protect it. In postconflict reconstruction, heritage must provide an opportunity to create, recreate and reconstruct society and its identity, and to provide opportunities for employment and human development. Article 15 of the Covenant referred to heritage that must be useful for human development. 51. He explained that those issues had been discussed with State delegations appearing before the Committee and recommended that they be regularly addressed in the work of the Human Rights Council, especially the universal periodic review, with a focus on protection, participation, international cooperation, access, freedom, and the security of persons working on heritage. Those elements constituted the normative content of the right to participate in cultural life and were not merely political aspirations; therefore, they could, and should, be addressed at the universal period review. 8