While the case against Mr. Mahdi was a first for the International Criminal Court, the United Nations tribunal dealing with crimes in the former Yugoslavia has handed down war crimes convictions for cultural destruction, specifically the shelling of the Croatian city of Dubrovnik and architectural monuments in Mostar, Bosnia.

The case comes amid growing concern about the fate of many cultural and religious monuments in the Middle East and North Africa. Temples, churches, archaeological sites, libraries and museums have been attacked by Islamists who regard them as pagan or idolatrous, and who have often posted images of their destruction online. The blowing up of the giant Buddha statues at Bamian in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001 is among the most notorious examples, and jihadists have more recently destroyed treasures in Nimrud, Iraq; Palmyra, Syria; and other pre-Islamic and medieval sites in the region.

No international court has jurisdiction over crimes in those countries, nor over continued cultural devastation in large parts of Yemen. Iraq, Syria and Yemen are not members of the International Criminal Court, and it cannot act there without a specific mandate from the United Nations Security Council. The prosecutor took on the events in Mali after its government said it was incapable of handling the inquiry and asked the court to intervene.

Conferences and meetings of diplomats and politicians have taken place this year, with participants calling for the defense of cultural heritage. Just last week, the French president, François Hollande, announced the creation of a $100 million public-private partnership with the United Arab Emirates aimed at protecting endangered cultural sites or restoring ones that have been damaged.

The hearings involving Mr. Mahdi, the first jihadist to appear before an international court, have thrown additional light on events in Timbuktu during its occupation by jihadists, and on a defendant about whom little was known until Niger handed him over to the court last year.