“Trafficking in antiquities is not a crime without victims,” said Ania Neistat, legal director of The Docket, a program of the Foundation. and Libya, which were then sold to the US and Europe.
Those selling antiquities stolen from war zones should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting war crimes and terrorist financing, according to the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which was founded by George and Amal Clooney.
«The illegal trade in antiquities is not a crime without victimsSaid Ania Neistat, legal director of The Docket, a Foundation’s program, presenting in Washington a two-year investigation into the trafficking of cultural treasures from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, which were then sold to the United States and Europe.
The trade, which is controlled by armed groups such as Islamic State or Hayat Tahrir al-Sam – the former al Qaeda affiliate in Syria – allows them to use the proceeds to buy weapons and finance attacks, Ania explained. Neistat.
The Islamic State, at a time when it controlled much of Syria and Iraq (2011-16), set up a “sub-ministry” of antiquities that licensed people who looted archeological sites and then imposed taxes on the sale of objects.
Antiquities are considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council, said Manel Siban, a lawyer for the foundation.
The stolen items passed through Turkey, Lebanon, Eastern Europe or Thailand to be sold to art dealers or sold online through private purchases.
Most of the items found and confiscated are eventually returned to the countries where they belong. But resellers are not prosecuted for their actions, they are not considered war criminals, according to the foundation.
Ania Neisrat said prosecutions are “a key element in breaking the cycle” of smuggling and ensuring that the circuits are dismantled to stop looting.
French authorities have recently launched a preliminary investigation into Jean-Luc Martine, the former director of the Louvre, for smuggling antiquities from the Middle East or the Near East.
As part of this investigation, five Egyptian antiquities were confiscated by American justice, which were in the possession of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but most likely came from antiquities.
