Regional Meeting to Fight the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property
Stolen from Iraq
Amman, Jordan, 1st & 2nd June 2004
- H.E., Mr Mohamed Abu Hamour, Jordanian Minister of Finance, opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. He referred to the tragic loss to mankind of cultural heritage during the events in Iraq and asked for international co-operation to fight the illicit traffic. Other opening remarks were made by Mr Mahmoud Quteishat, Director General of Jordanian Customs Department, and Mr Karl-Heinz Kind, specialist officer at the Interpol General Secretariat, on behalf of Mr Willy Deridder, Executive Director, Police Services. Both referred to the action already taken and affirmed the determination of their respective Organizations to further contribute to making the fight effective.
- The delegates elected Mr Bashshar Khasawnih of the Jordanian Customs Department to chair the meeting and unanimously adopted the agenda.
| 1. Theft of cultural property in Iraq |
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- Dr Donny George, Director General of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, provided a detailed report supported by various illustrations on the theft and damage committed in the Iraq Museum in April 2003. Although museum staff were still counting the items, due to the chaotic situation following the looting and the partial loss of inventories, it could be assumed that a total of about 15,000 items had been stolen. About 4,000 items had meanwhile been returned as a result of voluntary returns, random checks and targeted, often joint, operations conducted by the Iraqi police, the Coalition Provisional Authorities and the customs services. The Iraq Museum was preparing a web site containing all available information of the stolen items.
- He referred to various seizures of Iraqi cultural property abroad, and said that about 1,000 items had been seized in the United States, 1,054 in Jordan, about 200 in Syria, 35 in Kuwait, and a number in Saudi Arabia. Most of the seized items did not originate from the Iraq Museum, but from recent illegal excavations. He expressed his regret that no information on seizures had so far been provided by Turkey or Iran.
- He emphasized that most of the archaeological sites in Iraq were currently without any protection and therefore continued to be looted. The Italian Carabinieri had been offering protection in the Nasiriyah region, but since their recent withdrawal for lack of security, the sites in that region were also targets of the looters.
- The Delegate from US Homeland Security expanded on the previous presentation with explanations and images of the Iraq Museum focusing less on the stolen items, but rather on the situation faced by investigators, the traces found, the means of access to the exhibition hall and storage rooms, and the breaking into offices and stores.
| 2. General Secretariat status report |
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- Mr Jean-Pierre Jouanny, Specialist officer, General Secretariat, reported on the activities carried out by Interpol to fight the illicit trafficking in cultural property stolen in Iraq. He referred to the international conference held in Lyons, France on 5 and 6 May 2003, which resulted in the strengthened strategic co-operation with UNESCO with a view to establishing a database including stolen or illicitly exported Iraqi cultural property and the creation of two new forms of co-operation: the Interpol Expert Group to serve as an advisory body to the Interpol art programme and Interpol member countries, and the Interpol Tracking Task Force with an operational focus.
- In order to assist law enforcement worldwide, the General Secretariat had published a list of endangered Iraqi artefacts likely to be the subject of illicit trafficking, and had made a link to ICOM's Red List of Iraqi antiquities at risk. The June 2003 edition of the 'Most wanted Works of Art' poster had been entirely dedicated to losses from the Iraq Museum, and three of the six objects depicted had been recovered. With considerable support from the NCBs in Rome and Washington, more than 2,100 items stolen in Iraq had been recorded in the ASF stolen works of art database. They were all included in the 'Interpol - Stolen Works of Art' CD-Rom and in a specially-created section of the publicly accessible web site www.interpol.int.
- An Interpol representative had recently joined the International Co-ordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Iraqi Cultural Heritage founded by UNESCO.
| 3. Action taken by member countries |
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- A Delegate from the Jordanian Department of Antiquities underlined his department's close co-operation with both the customs and the public security services of his country. They had appointed liaison officers to assist at the borders with the assessment of seized objects. The Department of Antiquities also kept the seized items in secure conditions, set up computerized inventories and shared the information with the Iraq Museum and UNESCO. The department had established a database including about 11,000 archaeological sites in Jordan, and was preparing a similar database for Iraq.
- He said that Jordanian authorities faced several waves of seizures in April, July and November 2003, and again in April 2004, alternating with calmer periods between those operations. That could reflect the activities of the traffickers depending on their evaluation of the situation.
- Another Delegate from the same Department reported on the efforts for international co-operation undertaken on a bilateral basis with several neighbouring countries, but also with UNESCO and regional organizations (ISESCO and ILESCO), which resulted in practical assistance including funding and training for Iraqi archaeologists
- A Delegate from the Jordanian Public Security Department referred to the variety of criminal offences involving cultural property, such as theft, receiving stolen property, illegal excavations, destruction of sites through unauthorized constructions, forgery and related fraudulent activities. The Jordanian police occasionally conducted surveillance of known tourist and market places, carried out searches and assisted border patrols, particularly with drugs and counterfeit department and, finally, ensured the collection and transmission of information nationally and internationally. To fulfil their duties, they maintained regular contacts with the art trade and encouraged potential informants to co-operate.
- A Delegate from the Jordanian Customs Department explained the scope of his Department's activities which, in addition to the traditional customs duties, was increasingly dealing with monitoring the illicit trade in cultural property, particularly from Iraq. 36 customs centres at the borders and inside the country shared that responsibility in close co-operation with the Public Security Department and the Department of Antiquities. He confirmed the seizures of more than 1,000 Iraqi antiquities, most of them at the Iraqi and Syrian borders.
- A Saudi Arabian Delegate reported two seizures of Iraqi artefacts in his country. On one occasion, the items were seized in the possession of an Iraqi national trying to sell them inside the country, and the second seizure was carried out at the Jordanian border. He called for the adoption of common procedures to further deal with seizures, in particular regarding the identification and subsequent restitution of the items seized.
- The Syrian Delegate pointed out that the Syrian Antiquities Law was among the most stringent in prohibiting unauthorized excavation of antiquities, their possession and their trade, including severe punishment of up to life imprisonment with hard labour. The Syrian NCB co-ordinated fully with all the parties concerned and ensured the exchange of information both domestically and with other countries. The Syrian General Directorate for Antiquities supported police and customs investigations with their specific expertise in determining the origin and value of the items concerned.
- The Kuwaiti Customs Delegate regretted the lack of information provided about the stolen items and the activities carried out by different organizations to protect and recover Iraqi antiquities.
- He was referred to the publications on various web sites where the information was publicly available.
- A General Secretariat representative explained that the NCBs were regularly asked to forward relevant information to other law enforcement bodies and entities concerned, but it seemed that such exchanges of information were not consistent in every country. Furthermore, the Interpol CD-Rom had been expressly created to give entities other than the NCBs access to stolen art information.
- A United Kingdom Delegate presented new legislation on the protection of cultural property recently adopted in his country, such as the Dealing in Tainted Objects Offences Act (2003) and the Iraq Order (2003) which passed the UN sanctions into national law. The practical difficulties lay in the obligation to provide evidence of the origin of suspicious items from current Iraq (and not only from the region) and the actual date of exportation from Iraq. The Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) provided an additional tool for law enforcement to combat the illicit traffic where it was the most effective, i.e. in facilitating the seizure of financial assets arising from illicit transactions.
- He stressed the very close co-operation with auction houses, museums, experts, scholars and academics. So far, since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq, no Iraqi antiquities of museum quality had surfaced in the United Kingdom, but the London market was likely to be the target for less valuable items, most of them emanating from illegal excavations. Major UK auction houses took precautions to make sure that the objects for sale had not been stolen, but those efforts could not always be confirmed for the various art dealers.
- He then presented three case studies of seizures of Iraqi antiquities made in London in 2003: a recent case (seizure of over 650 glassware items in Newark, USA, involving the arrest of a dealer in London and the seizure of his assets), an inter-war case (seizure of a book stolen from the Mosul library in 1995 along with 465 other books, and the arrest of a Syrian suspect in London), and a case prior to 1990 (recovery of an Assyrian relief last seen in Iraq in 1976 from an Iranian national who had received it from a Jordanian citizen already known for handling stolen cultural goods). The cases showed the attraction of the London art market, but also the continuity and international links in the illicit traffic.
- An Italian Delegate reported on the activities carried out in Iraq by the Carabinieri forces. One officer had recorded information about stolen cylinder seals from the Iraq Museum, which was then forwarded for subsequent entry in the Italian and the Interpol stolen art databases. The forces stationed in the Nasiriyah region in southern Iraq had registered and mapped 71 archaeological sites and ensured their protection. During their operations, they had seized several hundred items from looters and receivers and arrested more than 50 suspects.
- He described the linked seizures made in August 2003 in Sardinia and southern Italy of 86 cuneiform tablets and five other archaeological items from a Lebanese national who had received them from an Iranian dealer residing in London, and who had already come to notice for similar offences. The items originated from illegal digs in Iraq.
- Dr Donny George acknowledged the effective preventive work carried out by the Carabinieri in monitoring the archaeological sites in the Nasiriyah region, and highlighted the recent consequences of their withdrawal due to security problems. Some days prior to the present conference, the Nasiriyah Museum had been attacked and the library completely burnt. The main suspects had previously assisted the Italian forces in safeguarding the sites and the museum, and then used their knowledge to perpetrate those criminal acts.
- The French Delegate said that in his country, appropriate legislation for the protection of cultural property had already been in place for a long time, and had proven its efficiency. In France, regular, well established co-operation between the police, customs and the Ministry of Culture ensured that relevant information was shared between the bodies concerned. He denied the reports repeatedly published in the media of the seizure in France of some 500 Iraqi antiquities.
- The General Secretariat representative regretted that, in some countries, the national penal code could protect objects stolen in those countries, but did not contain any provisions regulating the importation of objects illicitly exported from a foreign country. However, in the case of Iraqi cultural property, the European Union had adopted a Council Regulation in July 2003 prohibiting the importation, exportation, and trade of Iraqi antiquities which had left the country after 6 August 1990
- Dr Donny George clarified that the 1936 Iraqi Antiquities Law prohibited any exportation of Iraqi antiquities after 1936, so that nobody could lawfully buy Iraqi antiquities after that date.
- The US Homeland Security Service Delegate reported on some seizures made in the United States by the US customs services. In June 2003, a US citizen entering the country made false customs declarations and was found in possession of three cylinder seals. The inventory numbers of the Iraq Museum enabled clear identification. The trial was scheduled to take place in June 2004. He also referred to the seizure in Newark in May 2003 of a Fedex shipment of more than 600 Iraqi artefacts, most of them being glassware items accompanied by false expert reports indicating that they were of British origin. Investigations, which were still ongoing, had made it possible to identify the shipper in the United Kingdom and the receiver in the USA.
- He stressed that a zero tolerance policy had been practiced with regard to returning military staff and, in fact, only very few seizures had been made from soldiers, with almost all the cases involving military items. He stressed the increasing number of sales of Iraqi antiquities on the Internet and described the particular efforts of a specific cybercrime unit to follow up suspicious offers. They include close co-operation with online auction houses in order to quickly obtain contact information and take advantage of specific investigation methods, including the use of an undercover service and acting as a potential buyer.
- The representative of the USNCB described the close working relationship between all US law enforcement bodies, the Coalition Provisional Administration in Iraq, the relevant ministries and art experts. She stressed new legislation, in particular with respect to the seizure of assets and the important financial support provided by the Department of State for the preservation of Iraqi cultural heritage, including funding for museum equipment, building repairs, site protection, provision of vehicles, radio equipment and training for guards.
- Dr Donny George pointed out the fact that numerous archaeological sites were used by careless military staff, in particular the construction of runways or buildings that posed considerable threats to those sites. In the case of Babylon, Polish forces had even given permission for archaeologists to dig.
- He stressed the need to thoroughly evaluate the security risk before publishing information on the Internet with public access, and quoted one case in which he had found a publication with full details of a security project including information about the entrance and underground passages, accompanied by maps.
| 4. International organizations |
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- The UNESCO Representative explained the main principles of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which had been adopted by 103 States. She said that the provisions of the Convention had to be included in national legislation in order to become effective. She emphasized the benefits arising from bilateral treaties, including those the United States had signed with Guatemala, Peru and Mali, which tremendously enhanced the chances of recovery of illegally exported cultural property and its return to the country of origin.
- She also presented the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention, which had been adopted by 22 States and provided additional assistance, in particular for illegally excavated antiquities considered as stolen under the terms of the Convention. She stressed the need for adequate inventories and reported on UNESCO's support for their development in Iraqi museums. In this context, she promoted the use of the Object ID, an internationally recognized description standard for works of art.
- UNESCO had recently created the International Co-ordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Iraqi Cultural Heritage, including scientific experts and representatives from professional institutions and international organizations (including ICOM and Interpol) to deal with the rehabilitation of buildings, the provision of equipment and training. She finally offered UNESCO's assistance for the provision of expertise and the restitution of objects.
- A Yemeni Delegate expressed his doubts about the usefulness of the UNESCO Convention and referred to cases in which the restitution of cultural property to his country had failed.
- The UNESCO Delegate explained that, of course, the Convention was only applicable if both the countries involved had ratified it and, as the Convention was not retroactive, if the acquisition took place after ratification by both countries.
- Mr Jouanny, General Secretariat, stressed Interpol's position in support of both the 1970 UNESCO and the 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions and explained that the General Secretariat had implemented practical measures allowing the potential purchaser to conduct due diligence, as requested, in making Interpol's stolen art register available to the public (CD-Rom, website). He explained that it was in the best interest of the countries of the region to accede to the UNIDROIT Convention as soon as possible so that illicitly excavated antiquities could be returned more easily.
- Replying to a Lebanese Delegate, who supposed that the UNESCO Convention could encourage the thieves because of the reimbursement following the return of the stolen item to the rightful owner, the UNESCO Delegate said that only the innocent purchaser was to be compensated.
- The International Council of Museums (ICOM) Delegate reported on her Organization's scope of activities. In close co-operation with other key partner organizations, such as UNESCO and Interpol, ICOM had been organizing a series of meetings and training seminars on cultural property protection over many years, and had produced information tools and documents to assist museum staff and law enforcement agencies to recognize stolen artefacts and cultural property prohibited for exportation.
- On 7 May 2003, ICOM had organized a working group with international museum experts, and compiled an Emergency Red List of Iraqi Antiquities at risk. The list contained descriptions and a photograph of typical Iraqi cultural property supposed to be the subject of illicit trafficking. Once finalized, the list had been made available on ICOM's website and hard copies had been distributed to the museums and cultural institutions. An extensive media campaign had completed the circulation. The Interpol General Secretariat had ensured dissemination to its NCBs and the WCO had informed the customs administrations accordingly.
- A United Kingdom Delegate welcomed ICOM's Red List initiative and considered it was a useful tool to familiarize law enforcement, museums, art dealers and collectors with the typology of items.
- The report by the World Customs Organization (WCO) was presented by a Delegate from the Jordanian Customs Department. Already in March 2003, the WCO had alerted the customs administrations of the region to pay particular attention on the provenance of cultural goods and to strengthen border controls with Iraqi cultural property in mind, and also informed the ten Regional Liaison Intelligence Offices (RILOs) and the Customs Enforcement Network (CEN). On 9 and 10 May 2003, WCO had organized a Regional Symposium in Amman, Jordan, in conjunction with the Jordanian Customs Department, which had brought together most of the customs administrations of the region as well as UNESCO, the Interpol General Secretariat and police delegations from the Middle East. Recommendations were adopted to enhance co-operation and exchange of information between different services and to consider a range of specific actions to be taken.
- As a result of co-operation between the WCO and UNESCO, and with Interpol's assistance, a model export certificate was produced for cultural property which would harmonize the diversity of existing export certificates worldwide and facilitate customs controls and make it possible to detect false documents. The draft had meanwhile been endorsed by the Permanent Technical Committee of the WCO and the Executive Board of UNESCO, and the members of both Organizations would be requested to promote the use of the certificate.
- Each cultural object leaving Iraq should be accompanied by a certificate attesting that the exportation was legal. In the absence of the certificate, the exportation is to be considered as illicit.
| 5. Strengthening measures against illicit trafficking |
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- Mr Karl-Heinz Kind, General Secretariat, summarized the various contributions on the topic made in previous presentations. Although the general security situation currently made it difficult to allocate forces to protect sites in Iraq, there was a crucial need to upgrade protection in order to stop the looting.
- As most of the reported seizures had been made at borders, countries should maintain and increase their border controls. Such checks were not limited to the land borders with neighbouring countries, but included airports in distant countries, as well as mail deliveries.
- As a common investigation practice, attention should be drawn to the known market places and trading centres for cultural property with particular attention to the market with the most international impact, i.e. the increasing number of Internet sales. For such investigations, it was essential to react quickly because the bids were regularly open for a short period only.
| 6. Problems and proposed solutions |
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- Referring to earlier statements made by Delegates from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia concerning the identification of suspicious items, Mr Kind reminded the delegates of the information Interpol had already made available through its database and, to the wider public, via the website and the CD-Rom. As well as comparison with information already recorded, specific expertise was regularly required to determine the origin, authenticity and value of seized items. He recalled that there were experts in the antiquities departments and museums in each country who were able and willing to assist. He said that as a result of previous meetings (Interpol Tracking Task Force and Interpol Experts Group), a joint project had been set up with UNESCO to compile a list of experts (archaeologists), institutions and fact witnesses (site guards) to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to find suitable contacts.
- He recalled that restitution was subject to the legislation in force in the respective countries, but that accession to the international conventions may provide a better judicial basis in the future.
- The ICOM Delegate offered assistance in compiling the list of experts from museums and, in particular, referred to the experts for Iraqi cultural heritage who had helped to establish the Red List, who were already identified.
- Dr Donny George said that care should be taken when selecting experts because experience had shown that some experts had passed on their information to thieves and looters. He said that experts could be officially appointed by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then be authorized to testify in court. With regard to the conservation of seized antiquities, he called for adequate storage in museum facilities in order to prevent further damage.
- The UNESCO Delegate said that her Organization had already assisted with restitution in complicated cases with other countries in the past, and offered advice and assistance with the restitution of cultural property to Iraq.
- Mr Jouanny, General Secretariat, presented an initial analysis based on fewer than 20 cases so far received. He said that, even with a small number of cases, it was already possible to identify some common trends: Jordan's position as a typical transit country, the world's most important art markets as targeted destinations, the increasing use of Internet sales, and the involvement of suspects in different cases in different countries. He called for the regular communication of information in order enable more precise findings for the benefit of future investigations.
- Mr Kind, General Secretariat, highlighted the need for the timely sharing of accurate, relevant information concerning investigations and seizures of Iraqi cultural property for crime analysis purposes. Frequently, information from the media about seizures could not be officially confirmed and no details were communicated about the routes used, borders crossed, countries transited, means of smuggling used, offenders involved, and their possible links to criminal networks. To remedy to that problem, the Interpol Tracking Task Force had produced a report form containing the requested details. The form had been distributed to its member countries. He explained in detail the contents and purpose of the data fields. It was planned to also make the form electronically available through the dashboard of the new I-24/7 Interpol telecommunication system.
- The General Secretariat representatives explained that the Interpol Tracking Task Force had identified a probable need for specific training in Iraqi cultural property for police and customs officials in the region. To make progress with concrete steps to support training activities, they asked for experience obtained in the respective countries to be shared.
- They said that the specific matter of cultural property crime should be included in police and customs training curricula, and that the international organizations would try to contribute to the training as had been the case in other regions in the past.
- The Delegate of the Jordanian Customs Department reported on the sharing of information within the administration and regretted the lack of additional computer software.
- Dr Donny George reported on three 3-days training courses organized in the Iraq Museum for customs officers from Baghdad and the airport. The courses included the legal instruments and the typology of Iraqi antiquities. It was intended to extend the courses to other customs officers in the country.
- He said that the Iraqi NCB had appointed one officer in charge of cultural property crime who he met on a regular basis. The exchange of information between the museum and the Interpol office was thus ensured. It was planned to dedicate more specialist officers to that working area.
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