Interpol s Role in the Fight against the Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property Presented by Karl-Heinz Kind Coordinator Works of Art Unit Interpol General Secretariat Lyons, France
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network
Iceland Norway Finland Sweden Estonia Ireland U. K. Lithuania Canada Denmark Poland Latvia Russia Netherlands Germany Hungary Luxembourg Czech Republic Belgium Austria Belarus France Switzerland Ukraine Georgia Kazakhstan Italy Liechtenstein Moldova Azerbaijan Andorra Slovenia Bulgaria Fyrom Slovakia UzbekistanKyrgyzstan Japan Spain Monaco Albania Romania Armenia United States Croatia Greece Turkey Tajikistan China Portugal Serbia Montenegro Bosnia-Herzegovina Korea (Rep. of) Cyprus Lebanon Syria Malta Afghanistan Jordan Iran Morocco Tunisia Israel Bermudas (SB) Egypt Kuwait Pakistan Bhutan Libya Irak Bahrain Nepal Mexico Algeria United Arab Emirates Cuba Mauritania Saudi Arabia Bangladesh Hong Kong - China (SB) Puerto Rico - USA (SB) OmanQatar Guatemala India Belize Macao - China (SB) El Salvador Dominican Republic Senegal Niger Chad Sudan Yemen Honduras Thailand Vietnam Philippines El Salvador (SRB) Barbados Guinea Eritrea Cambodia Marshall Islands Nicaragua Nigeria Ethiopia Sri Lanka Costa Rica Côte d'ivoire (SRB) Cameroon Panama Togo Singapore Brunei American Samoa - USA (SB) Venezuela Malaysia Colombia Guyana Gabon Zaire Kenya Indonesia Nauru Ecuador Suriname Ouganda East Timor Tonga Angola Tanzania Papua New Guinea Peru Fiji Brazil Mozambique BotswanaZimbabwe Bolivia Namibia Swaziland Lesotho Australia Paraguay South Africa Chile Uruguay Argentina Argentina (RS) Argentina (SRB New Zealand
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network Poster of the most wanted works of art
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network - Poster of the most wanted works of art Specialized computerized database
DATABASE ASF WORKS OF ART
November 2009 34, 355 identifiable objects
Works of Art Database Records 34355 35000 30180 30000 24707 25000 20000 17249 15000 10000 5000 0 2000 2003 2006 Nov-09
Records by region (Nov 2009) 30000 25000 25255 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 166 4642 1275 3017 Africa Americas Asia Europe M. East N. Afr. EU IQ
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network - Poster of the most wanted works of art - Specialized computerized database Direct access through I-24/7
WORKS OF ART DATABASE SEARCHES 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 203 259 142 287 3877 4927 7187 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 9000 Projection Public online access
7 187 SEARCHES IN 2008 BY REGION 4000 6000 3500 5000 3000 4000 2500 2000 3000 1500 2000 1000 1000 500 0 4997 EU 1688 363 56 83 Africa Americas Asia Europe M. East N. Afr.
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network - Poster of the most wanted works of art - Specialized computerized database - Direct access through I-24/7 DVD «Stolen works of art»
Additional access to database information 1999 June 2009 In 3 languages CD-ROM/DVD updated every two months (queries cannot be quantified) Last edition June 2009!
TOOLS TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY Fast and wide diffusion of the information - Telecommunications network - Poster of the most wanted works of art - Specialized computerized database - Direct access through I-24/7 - DVD «Stolen works of art» Public online access
PUBLIC ONLINE ACCESS SINCE 17 AUGUST 2009 Via INTERPOL s secure web site By 15 November: c. 950 access rights granted users from 64 countries c. 2, 500 queries conducted all sectors represented: law enforcement agencies, state authorities, international & non governmental organizations, cultural instutions, museums, lawyers, scholars, insurers, appraisers, art market professionals, private collectors
www.interpol.int
Co-operation with other international organisations Memorandum of Understanding INTERPOL - WCO: November 1998 Memorandum of Understanding INTERPOL - UNESCO October 1999 Memorandum of Understanding INTERPOL - ICOM (International Council of Museums): April 2000
LIST OF EXPERTS ON IRAQI CULTURAL HERITAGE (Compiled by the UNESCO Section for Cultural Property and Museums) February 2007 To prevent illicit trafficking in cultural property and to facilitate the return of stolen or illicitly exported Iraqi cultural property, UNESCO and INTERPOL closely cooperate on a variety of activities such as the exchange of information, participation in educational activities and the provision of expert advice. During the first INTERPOL Expert Group Meeting on Stolen Cultural Property, which took place at INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon on 17 February 2004, it was therefore decided that a list of experts and institutions both in Iraq and worldwide shall be compiled by UNESCO to be available for consultation through INTERPOL. UNESCO has undertaken the compilation of this list with the assistance of the Iraqi authorities. The purpose of the list is to identify experts to carry out an assessment of the authenticity and provenance of illicitly exported cultural property from Iraqi territory on the art market. The experts included in the list may be consulted, via the Interpol National Central Bureaus, concerning the origins of archaeological objects seized by law enforcement services.
2008: Seizure of 3 cuneiform tablets in Peru and assistance provided by Spanish expert (UNESCO list)
-Disclaimer advising buyers to check and request documentation on licit provenance and seller s legal title - Co-operation between Internet platforms and law enforcement agencies - Setting up of a central authority in charge of permanently monitoring Internet sales - Dissemination of art theft information for national and international searches - Facilitation of identification by relialable inventories (e. g. Object ID)
- Use of all available tools incl. INTERPOL s database to check suspicious items - Tracking and prosecution of criminal activities related to sale of cultural objects over the Internet - Establishment of legal measures to seize cultural objects in case of reasonable doubts concerning their licit provenance - Return of seized objects to their rightful owners
Interpol priority : Capacity building - Conferences and meetings International symposium (every 3 years) Central & Eastern Europe (every 3 years) Incident related (Conference on looted Iraqi antiquities) - Working groups INTERPOL Experts Group INTERPOL Tracking Task Force on Stolen Iraqi antiquities Working group on information exchan,ge - Training seminars upon request of member countries (2004 Chile, 2005 Brazil, 2006 Mexico, 2008 Bolivia, 2009 Peru)
CONCLUSIONS - Adapt appropriate cultural heritage legislation - Be party of international conventions - Establish and regularly update inventories - Set up specialized unit for cultural property crime - Transmit theft information to INTERPOL for international searches - Ensure training and include police, customs and museums staff - Establish a good co-operation between the concerned ministries - Adopt a specialized database
Thank you very much for your attention Merci beaucoup pour votre attention Muchas gracias por su atención نشكرآم جزيل الشكر على انتباهكم Karl-Heinz Kind