Paris, March 1 (No.2001-29) - The theft, looting and clandestine excavation of cultural property in Asia - which cause irreparable loss to the cultural heritage of many countries in the region - will be among subjects tackled by the 11th session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation to take place in Phnom Penh from March 6 to 9.

Held at the invitation of the government of Cambodia, a country particularly affected by cultural heritage looting, this will be the first meeting of the 22-Member State Intergovernmental Committee to be held in the region. The Committee is convened every two years and serves as a forum for negotiation, discussion and awareness-raising in relation to illicit traffic of cultural property world-wide.

Also during the upcoming session, the Committee will discuss Greece’s request for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from Britain and Turkey’s demand for the restitution of the Bugoskoy Sphinx from Germany. It will consider the principles to be applied for the settlement of disputes concerning cultural property displaced during the World War II.

The Committee will consider the most appropriate means for the dissemination of the International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property, launched in November 2000, and an international standard for recording minimal data on movable cultural property - the “Object ID” among art dealers, museum curators, and police and customs officials. These instruments were adopted by UNESCO at the recommendations of the Committee.

The Committee will appeal for contributions to an International Fund for the Return and Restitution of Cultural Property to facilitate the restitution of cultural property to their countries of origin. The newly-created fund is designed to support Member States in their efforts to fight illicit trafficking by helping them set up public awareness programmes, providing specialized training to police and customs officials, and compiling national inventories to trace stolen or missing objects. The fund will be built up from voluntary contributions by Member States and others. It will be administered by UNESCO.

The issue of illicit traffic in cultural property in Cambodia has been a major concern for UNESCO which has organized training workshops on protection of cultural property and has co-operated with the French authorities in setting up a cultural heritage police service for the Cambodian site of Angkor Wat which is on the World Heritage in Danger List. The issue is also important for other countries in the region, including major art trading states such as Japan and Thailand. Strong international collaboration is required to stop the extensive clandestine excavation and theft damaging Asian sites, especially in countries destabilized by conflict such as Afghanistan.

The Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation was created in 1978, following the adoption in 1970 of UNESCO’s Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the first global legal instrument for the protection of cultural heritage from theft and pillaging. It is complemented by the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.

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