Presented byKarl-Heinz KindCoordinator Works of Art UnitInterpol General SecretariatLyons, France

Interpol’s Role in the Fight against the IllicitTraffic in Cultural Property

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

Albania

Algeria

American Samoa - USA (SB)

Andorra

Argentina Argentina (RS) Argentina (SRB

Armenia

Australia

AustriaAzerbaijan

BahrainBangladesh

Barbados

BelarusBelgium

Belize

Bermudas (SB)

Bolivia

Bosnia-Herzegovina

BotswanaBrazil

Bulgaria

CambodiaCameroon

Canada

Chile

China

Colombia

Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire (SRB)

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech RepublicDenmark

Dominican Republic

East TimorEcuador

Egypt

El Salvador El Salvador (SRB)

Estonia

Fiji

Finland

FyromFrance Georgia

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Guyana

Honduras

Hong Kong - China (SB)

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

IranIsrael

ItalyJapan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Korea (Rep. of)

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Latvia

Lebanon

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macao - China (SB)

Malaysia

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mexico

MoldovaMonaco

Morocco

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Puerto Rico - USA (SB) Qatar

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia Montenegro

Singapore

SlovakiaSlovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Thailand

Tonga

Tunisia

Turkey

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

U. K.

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela

Vietnam

Ireland

UzbekistanTajikistan

Brunei

LesothoSwaziland

MozambiqueTanzania

Ouganda

Namibia

Angola

Gabon

Mauritania

SenegalGuinea

TogoEthiopia

Yemen

Zimbabwe

Eritrea

Irak

Kenya

Bhutan

ChadNiger Sudan

ZaireZaire

Afghanistan

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

DATABASEASF

WORKS OF ART

November 2009

34, 355 identifiable objects

Works of Art DatabaseRecords

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

2000 2003 2006 Nov-09

17249

24707

30180

34355

Records by region (Nov 2009)

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Africa Americas Asia Europe M. East N.Afr.

166 4642 1275

25255

3017

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

0100020003000400050006000700080009000

10000

2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

203 259 142 287

38774927

71879000 Projection

Public onlineaccess

0

500

1000

15002000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Africa Americas Asia Europe M. East N.Afr.

7 187 SEARCHES IN 2008BY REGION

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Africa Americas Asia Europe M. East N.Afr.

363

1688

4997

83

EU

56

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

updated every

two months

(queries cannot be

quantified)

Last edition June 2009 !

CD-ROM/DVD

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: November1998

• 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 requestdocumentation on licit provenance and seller’slegal title

- Co-operation between Internet platforms and lawenforcement agencies

- Setting up of a central authority in charge ofpermanently monitoring Internet sales

- Dissemination of art theft information for national and international searches

- Facilitation of identification by relialableinventories (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

KarlKarl--Heinz KindHeinz Kind

Merci beaucoup pour votre attention

Muchas gracias por su atención

نشكرآم جزيل الشكر على انتباهكم