Editing Looting (section)

==== Prohibition under international law ====
Both [[customary international law]] and international [[treaty|treaties]] prohibit pillage in [[war|armed conflict]].<ref name="ICRC" /> The [[Lieber Code]], the Brussels Declaration (1874), and the [[Laws of War on Land (Oxford 1880)|Oxford Manual]] have recognized the prohibition against pillage.<ref name="ICRC" /> The [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]] ([[Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict|modified in 1954]]) obliges military forces not only to avoid the destruction of enemy property but also to provide for its protection.<ref name=hague>Barbara T. Hoffman (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXTcGC5CwQC&pg=PA57 ''Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice''], Cambridge University Press, p. 57. {{ISBN|0521857643}}</ref> Article 8 of the [[Statute of the International Criminal Court]] provides that in international warfare, "pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault", is a [[war crime]].<ref name="ICRC" /> In the aftermath of [[World War II]], a number of war criminals were prosecuted for pillage. The [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia]] (1993–2017) brought several prosecutions for pillage.<ref name="ICRC" />

The [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] of 1949 explicitly prohibits the looting of civilian property during wartime.<ref name="ICRC" /><ref name=gen>E. Lauterpacht, C. J. Greenwood, Marc Weller (1991), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5xVSkGtcT5YC&pg=PA154 ''The Kuwait Crisis: Basic Documents''], Cambridge University Press, p. 154. {{ISBN|0521463084}}</ref>

Theoretically, to prevent such looting, unclaimed property is moved to the custody of the [[Custodian of Enemy Property]], to be handled until returned to its owners.