PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

​

National Constitution of Colombia, Article 72: "The Nation's cultural heritage is under the protection of the State, the archaeological heritage and other cultural assets that make up the national identity belong to the nation and are inalienable, indefeasible and imprescriptible. it will establish the mechanisms to reacquire them when they are in the hands of private individuals and will regulate the special rights that the ethnic groups settled in territories of archaeological wealth may have. "

The submerged cultural heritage is also part of the cultural heritage. The law in its article 9 defines it as "cities or cemeteries of disappeared human groups, human remains, the shipwrecked species constituted by the ships and their endowment, and other furniture lying within them, or scattered on the sea floor, which find in the marine soil or subsoil. "

The law emphasizes that any exploration and removal of the submerged cultural heritage by any person, whether legal or private, must be approved by the Ministry of Culture, the General Maritime Directorate, DIMAR and the Ministry of National Defense.

The persons who commit such crimes will be judged according to articles 242, 246, 249, 270, 371 and 372 of the Colombian Penal Code.

Code of Conduct Resolution 3840 of December 2009