This week I attended an interesting seminar put on by the State Department's new Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee (CHCC) that took place at the Smithsonian Institution. There were some really enjoyable programs about preservation work, and it was nice to have the opportunity to meet others with different perspectives. However, CPO still came away concerned that legitimate collecting is more at risk than ever by grossly over-broad application of cultural heritage laws which Congress originally intended to focus prospectively on specific looting problems in specific countries abroad.
I don't have time to summarize the entire symposium, but here are some of my takeaways:
1. ISIS may have been defeated on the battlefield, but the terror group still looms large as the justification for all sorts of efforts that impinge on the due process and private property rights of collectors. The latest claim is that while ISIS may have lost most, if not all, of its territory, it has been warehousing large numbers of valuable artifacts with which to fund its ongoing jihad.
2. The State Department and law enforcement coordinate heavily with academics and related advocacy groups which are largely hostile to private collecting of antiquities. Even though the statute that set up the CHCC calls for the committee to coordinate with the trade in addition to cultural heritage groups, there appears to be little evidence of consultations with the trade. (CPO was happy to get invited, but he was not there for a dealer group.) This should be particularly troubling because it has certainly contributed to overboard application of cultural heritage laws in a matter hostile to even legitimate collecting.
3. Enforcement
will be ramped up in the next 18 months, which should be a major concern given the increasing number of cultural property agreements, how broad they have become and how broadly they are enforced. Apparently, the State Department (with the help of the archaeological lobby) is working on five new agreements with Middle Eastern countries (most, if not all, of which have authoritarian governments which claim title to anything and everything "old.") Moreover, there still is no up-to-date guidance for the public in this area, though U.S. Customs at least realizes this is a problem.
4. FBI
and Homeland Security Investigations are on board with archaeological advocacy groups' and certain compliance vendors' efforts to impose new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations specifically on the art trade because AML violations may be used to pile on charges and encourage guilty pleas. Still, the evidence presented that money laundering is a real
problem in the art trade remains very slim and largely depends on conflating money
laundering with other financial crimes.
5. The Smithsonian has done lots of good work on cultural heritage preservation and restoration projects, but has also joined the cultural property wars on the side of archaeological advocacy groups and has lobbied with them in their legislative efforts that have harmed the legitimate trade in cultural artifacts.
Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts
Friday, October 26, 2018
Thursday, August 27, 2015
A Question of Degree
The Art Newspaper has reported on warnings from the FBI's Bonnie Magness Gardiner, an alumnus of the State Department's Cultural Heritage Center, and Michael Danti, a beneficiary of a $600,000 contract from the US State Department, about ISIS looted material -- particularly coins-- entering the U.S. market.
CPO remains dubious that looted material is reaching our shores in any quantity, and further wonders whether the ultimate source of any such "fresh" material is just as likely, if not more likely, to be the cash-strapped Assad regime or the Free Syrian Army rather than ISIS. After all, the iconoclasts of ISIS seem more intent on destruction than anything else, and all those coins with graven images on them could be melted to provide metal for their new Caliphate coinage.
Still, given the crisis, due diligence is warranted, particularly if one is offered groups of similar coins that may have come from the region. Reasonable due diligence based on the type of artifact is one thing. However, it's quite another thing to condition legal import of all collector's coins made in Syria millennia ago on difficult, if not impossible to obtain, documentary proof that an item was out of Syria before the start of Syria's civil war in 2011. Nor should concerns about looting provide the State Department and US Customs license to ignore the provisions of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act and the Anglo-American notions of putting the government to its proofs under that statute. Otherwise, for every 1 looted coin recovered, it is quite likely hundreds if not thousands of quite legitimate but not adequately documented coins could be sucked up by Customs for repatriation to war torn Syria. Is that what US Customs and the State Department really want?
And, finally, the question remains whether all the publicity at the end of Congress' summer break is also meant to help push along the still flawed HR 1493/S.1887, and its proposed creation of a new, pumped up State Department Cultural Heritage Center bureaucracy, as much as anything else. So, as CPO has previously cautioned, consider the source.
CPO remains dubious that looted material is reaching our shores in any quantity, and further wonders whether the ultimate source of any such "fresh" material is just as likely, if not more likely, to be the cash-strapped Assad regime or the Free Syrian Army rather than ISIS. After all, the iconoclasts of ISIS seem more intent on destruction than anything else, and all those coins with graven images on them could be melted to provide metal for their new Caliphate coinage.
Still, given the crisis, due diligence is warranted, particularly if one is offered groups of similar coins that may have come from the region. Reasonable due diligence based on the type of artifact is one thing. However, it's quite another thing to condition legal import of all collector's coins made in Syria millennia ago on difficult, if not impossible to obtain, documentary proof that an item was out of Syria before the start of Syria's civil war in 2011. Nor should concerns about looting provide the State Department and US Customs license to ignore the provisions of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act and the Anglo-American notions of putting the government to its proofs under that statute. Otherwise, for every 1 looted coin recovered, it is quite likely hundreds if not thousands of quite legitimate but not adequately documented coins could be sucked up by Customs for repatriation to war torn Syria. Is that what US Customs and the State Department really want?
And, finally, the question remains whether all the publicity at the end of Congress' summer break is also meant to help push along the still flawed HR 1493/S.1887, and its proposed creation of a new, pumped up State Department Cultural Heritage Center bureaucracy, as much as anything else. So, as CPO has previously cautioned, consider the source.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Dinosaur 13
Dinosaur 13 chronicles how an ambitious prosecutor, federal cultural bureaucrats, the FBI, jealous academics, a lying rancher, a greedy Native American tribe, a hard-ass judge, McDonald's, Disney and a big auction house conspired to steal "Sue," a virtually complete T-Rex, from an intrepid band of commercial paleontologists and a small South Dakota town, all to take her to the big city, Chicago.
Sound implausible? See it and you will believe. At a minimum, any thinking person should be troubled about how the federal government handled the matter-- using tactics that have been replicated over and over again against collectors, dealers and museums in order to "get" artifacts in their possession.
Sound implausible? See it and you will believe. At a minimum, any thinking person should be troubled about how the federal government handled the matter-- using tactics that have been replicated over and over again against collectors, dealers and museums in order to "get" artifacts in their possession.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
FBI Believes Antiquities Laws Apply Retroactively?
The FBI's actions in descending on the home of a 91 year old war veteran and missionary who has collected artifacts all his life has become even more troubling. According to a spokesman for the Bureau, some of the treaties and laws that provided a basis for the seizure are "retroactive."
But then what of the US Constitution's strict prohibition on ex post facto or retroactive criminal laws? Does the FBI believe such constitutional protections no longer apply to collectors? And, if so, who will tell them otherwise?
But then what of the US Constitution's strict prohibition on ex post facto or retroactive criminal laws? Does the FBI believe such constitutional protections no longer apply to collectors? And, if so, who will tell them otherwise?
Friday, April 4, 2014
Cuture Cops Descend on 91 Year Old Veteran
One hundred FBI agents have descended upon the Indiana home of a 91 year old WW II veteran who collected the objects over an 80 year period as a missionary abroad.
The veteran evidently held the items in a home museum that was open to local school groups.
Some reports suggest the collector had actually contacted the FBI himself wanting to repatriate some of the items. If so, the collector apparently got far more than he bargained for. Shame on the FBI for treating an elderly collector in such a way just to "polish a few resumes" with a big "antiquities bust."
Couldn't the matter been handled far more discretely?
The veteran evidently held the items in a home museum that was open to local school groups.
Some reports suggest the collector had actually contacted the FBI himself wanting to repatriate some of the items. If so, the collector apparently got far more than he bargained for. Shame on the FBI for treating an elderly collector in such a way just to "polish a few resumes" with a big "antiquities bust."
Couldn't the matter been handled far more discretely?
Friday, June 14, 2013
Breaking News: CPO Subject to Government Surveillance?
Breaking News: Arthur Houghton has uncovered this shocking information which I publish in full. I direct all inquiries to him. I would have not believed it myself, save for all the recent revelations of Government misconduct at State, the IRS and NSA:
Peter, it has come to my attention that the FBI, Criminal Justice Information Systems, has begun to surreptitiously monitor your blog and in particular the several exchanges that we have had in recent days. I have this information from sources that are internal to the Bureau and that I do not wish to reveal further -- but I can say that they are firm and incontrovertible. It is a remarkable event, unparalleled in my experience, but consistent with what we now know about the monitoring of US citizens by our national security services.
The fact that this information should become known to us, moreover, should be an extreme embarrassment to the Bureau -- even a breach of security. I submit that the Department of Justice Inspector General should be asked to investigate who is doing the monitoring, whether they have been authorized to do so and if so by whom, what legal authority lies behind it, and whether there are others, perhaps many others, who are being subjected to the same secret surveillance.
Would you be good enough to let me have your thoughts on this?
Many thanks,
Arthur
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Questions About Provenance of WikiLoot Documents “Silly”?
“Chasing Aphrodite” author Jason Felch has called my questions about the provenance of the source documents for his “WikiLoot” project “silly.” But are they?
Specifically, I asked Mr. Felch on his “Chasing Aphrodite” blog:
“What is the source of these documents? Were they released legally or leaked unofficially? There would be some considerable irony if you are going to hunt looted material with “looted” documents. If the latter, shouldn't the NSPA apply?”
He responded:
“Your crack about nspa and "looted" documents is silly. I know you're used to fighting for your cause in the trenches, but hope you have more constructive thoughts to contribute about WikiLoot soon. We're open to them.”
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/03/12/introducing-wikiloot-your-chance-to-fight-the-illicit-antiquities-trade/#comments
Yet, Mr. Felch strongly made the point at a recent talk in Washington, D.C., that museums holding artifacts illicitly excavated under Italian or Greek law were holding stolen goods and were subject to potential prosecution by the US Department of Justice under the National Stolen Property Act.
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/02/08/video-chasing-aphrodite-at-the-national-press-club-in-washington-dc/
Moreover, the “Chasing Aphrodite” blog has discussed Professor Urice’s article on the subject.
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2011/12/05/looted-antiquities-at-american-museums-an-on-going-crime-law-professor-argues/
Why wouldn’t the same analysis apply to illicitly obtained Italian and Greek government documents?
WikiLoot is a serious project that deserves some serious questions asked about it. To ask such questions, particularly at the invitation of WikiLoot itself, is not silly.
Specifically, I asked Mr. Felch on his “Chasing Aphrodite” blog:
“What is the source of these documents? Were they released legally or leaked unofficially? There would be some considerable irony if you are going to hunt looted material with “looted” documents. If the latter, shouldn't the NSPA apply?”
He responded:
“Your crack about nspa and "looted" documents is silly. I know you're used to fighting for your cause in the trenches, but hope you have more constructive thoughts to contribute about WikiLoot soon. We're open to them.”
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/03/12/introducing-wikiloot-your-chance-to-fight-the-illicit-antiquities-trade/#comments
Yet, Mr. Felch strongly made the point at a recent talk in Washington, D.C., that museums holding artifacts illicitly excavated under Italian or Greek law were holding stolen goods and were subject to potential prosecution by the US Department of Justice under the National Stolen Property Act.
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2012/02/08/video-chasing-aphrodite-at-the-national-press-club-in-washington-dc/
Moreover, the “Chasing Aphrodite” blog has discussed Professor Urice’s article on the subject.
See http://chasingaphrodite.com/2011/12/05/looted-antiquities-at-american-museums-an-on-going-crime-law-professor-argues/
Why wouldn’t the same analysis apply to illicitly obtained Italian and Greek government documents?
WikiLoot is a serious project that deserves some serious questions asked about it. To ask such questions, particularly at the invitation of WikiLoot itself, is not silly.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Another View of ATADA Meeting
Here is another view of what actually happened at a panel sponsored by the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association. Kate Fitz Gibbon, a participant, believes that an archaeological blog and article mischaraterized the event, and provided this for publication on the CPO Blog:
Your email noted an article on a Santa Fe event during last week’s annual Indian Market – and the subsequent press, blog and Twitter response. I was a panelist at the August 15th public program sponsored by the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association Foundation, New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts, and the Cultural Policy Research Institute. The panel included four ATADA board members and three representatives from the FBI, Dr. Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, Program Manager, FBI Art Theft Program, David Hall, Esq., a prosecutor with the Art Crime Program, and David Kice, F.B.I. Special Agent. The program was free, public, very well attended and civil throughout. The next day, ATADA members hosted the FBI guests at a tour of the Santa Fe Antique Indian Art Show. There was agreement to continue to work cooperatively, including, tentatively, by having ATADA members speak at a training program the FBI operates in Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe New Mexican article following the program said that the crowd had “jeered” the FBI, a complete mischaracterization of the event. An Associated Press reporter present gave an accurate description. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/after-fbi-raids-native-am_n_931700.html
Panelists asked at several points what art dealers could do to help the FBI stop looting. Mr. Hall said that they should just tip the FBI off to criminal activity. Mr. Kice said that art dealers always complained that the FBI had gone after the wrong guys but would not tell the FBI where to find the major looters. That remark elicited spontaneous laughter from virtually the entire public audience, and a number of people replied at the same time, “We don’t know any!”
Afterwards, audience members expressed disappointment that the FBI panelists would not respond to questions on the Blanding and Santa Fe cases or any Indian artifacts-related matters. The FBI panelists stated only that these were ongoing investigations and they could not comment on policy because the FBI didn’t make policy.
There are a few remaining defendants in the Blanding, Utah cases (the rest have reached plea agreements for probation) and a wrongful death suit was recently filed in a Bivens action by the widow of Dr. James Redd of Blanding, who committed suicide the day after agents held him shackled for four hours of questioning. The charge against him was that he had picked up a shell pendant, ¼ in by ½ inch long from the surface of the ground during a hike. The pendant was never offered for sale. One other defendant committed suicide after turning himself in, and the FBI informant in the cases committed suicide just a few weeks before the first trial was scheduled to begin.
Interestingly, Ms. Magness-Gardiner was asked if there were any completed cases she could speak about; her reply was that in her tenure at the FBI (six years, if I recall correctly) the Blanding cases were the only cases related to Indian artifacts that the FBI has pursued.
Earlier the same day, in another ATADA presentation, Dace Hyatt, who was the only appraiser qualified as an expert by the courts in the Blanding cases, showed examples of artifacts from completed cases. All material had been released in discovery. The values ascribed by the informant and utilized by the FBI averaged 752% of the appraised Fair Market valuation. This difference in valuation pushed the charge related to most artifacts from a misdemeanor to a felony.
A third ATADA program was led by US Fish and Game agent Dan Brooks, and a fourth featured a discussion on laws related to endangered species by attorneys Roger Fry, William Fry and Len Weakley. All the programs were videotaped and will be available through the ATADA Foundation. Contact webmaster@atada.org for information on how to order them.
Kate Fitz Gibbon
Your email noted an article on a Santa Fe event during last week’s annual Indian Market – and the subsequent press, blog and Twitter response. I was a panelist at the August 15th public program sponsored by the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association Foundation, New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts, and the Cultural Policy Research Institute. The panel included four ATADA board members and three representatives from the FBI, Dr. Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, Program Manager, FBI Art Theft Program, David Hall, Esq., a prosecutor with the Art Crime Program, and David Kice, F.B.I. Special Agent. The program was free, public, very well attended and civil throughout. The next day, ATADA members hosted the FBI guests at a tour of the Santa Fe Antique Indian Art Show. There was agreement to continue to work cooperatively, including, tentatively, by having ATADA members speak at a training program the FBI operates in Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe New Mexican article following the program said that the crowd had “jeered” the FBI, a complete mischaracterization of the event. An Associated Press reporter present gave an accurate description. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/after-fbi-raids-native-am_n_931700.html
Panelists asked at several points what art dealers could do to help the FBI stop looting. Mr. Hall said that they should just tip the FBI off to criminal activity. Mr. Kice said that art dealers always complained that the FBI had gone after the wrong guys but would not tell the FBI where to find the major looters. That remark elicited spontaneous laughter from virtually the entire public audience, and a number of people replied at the same time, “We don’t know any!”
Afterwards, audience members expressed disappointment that the FBI panelists would not respond to questions on the Blanding and Santa Fe cases or any Indian artifacts-related matters. The FBI panelists stated only that these were ongoing investigations and they could not comment on policy because the FBI didn’t make policy.
There are a few remaining defendants in the Blanding, Utah cases (the rest have reached plea agreements for probation) and a wrongful death suit was recently filed in a Bivens action by the widow of Dr. James Redd of Blanding, who committed suicide the day after agents held him shackled for four hours of questioning. The charge against him was that he had picked up a shell pendant, ¼ in by ½ inch long from the surface of the ground during a hike. The pendant was never offered for sale. One other defendant committed suicide after turning himself in, and the FBI informant in the cases committed suicide just a few weeks before the first trial was scheduled to begin.
Interestingly, Ms. Magness-Gardiner was asked if there were any completed cases she could speak about; her reply was that in her tenure at the FBI (six years, if I recall correctly) the Blanding cases were the only cases related to Indian artifacts that the FBI has pursued.
Earlier the same day, in another ATADA presentation, Dace Hyatt, who was the only appraiser qualified as an expert by the courts in the Blanding cases, showed examples of artifacts from completed cases. All material had been released in discovery. The values ascribed by the informant and utilized by the FBI averaged 752% of the appraised Fair Market valuation. This difference in valuation pushed the charge related to most artifacts from a misdemeanor to a felony.
A third ATADA program was led by US Fish and Game agent Dan Brooks, and a fourth featured a discussion on laws related to endangered species by attorneys Roger Fry, William Fry and Len Weakley. All the programs were videotaped and will be available through the ATADA Foundation. Contact webmaster@atada.org for information on how to order them.
Kate Fitz Gibbon
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
SLAM Pushes Back
The Saint Louis Museum of Art has filed a lawsuit against the US Government to enjoin it from seizing the Ka-Nefer-Nefer mummy mask.
See http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/16/34223.htm (Complaint may be found at end of story).
The Complaint demonstrates the role of activists take in encouraging efforts to repatriate artifacts. In this case, the Complaint alleges that Ton Cremers, former operator of the Dutch based "Museum Security Network," pressed for the mask's return even before current Egyptian Minister of Antiquities (for the moment at least) Zahi Hawass took up the issue and it became a cause celebre for archaeo-bloggers David Gill and Paul Barford. See http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/search?q=SLAM and http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/search/label/SLAM
President Bush appointed Brent Benjamin, SLAM's Director, to CPAC, but the State Department failed to swear in Benjamin to this post before the end of the Bush Administration, and has apparently taken the position that his appointment lapsed with the onset of the Obama Administration. It is unclear whether a campaign against Benjamin orchestrated by the archaeological lobby impacted the decision.
See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/10/safe-campaign-against-appointment-of.html
The Complaint also mentions Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, who is a manager of the FBI's Art Theft Program. Ms. Magness-Gardiner formally was a staff archaeologist for the Cultural Property Advisory Committee.
See http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/16/34223.htm (Complaint may be found at end of story).
The Complaint demonstrates the role of activists take in encouraging efforts to repatriate artifacts. In this case, the Complaint alleges that Ton Cremers, former operator of the Dutch based "Museum Security Network," pressed for the mask's return even before current Egyptian Minister of Antiquities (for the moment at least) Zahi Hawass took up the issue and it became a cause celebre for archaeo-bloggers David Gill and Paul Barford. See http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/search?q=SLAM and http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/search/label/SLAM
President Bush appointed Brent Benjamin, SLAM's Director, to CPAC, but the State Department failed to swear in Benjamin to this post before the end of the Bush Administration, and has apparently taken the position that his appointment lapsed with the onset of the Obama Administration. It is unclear whether a campaign against Benjamin orchestrated by the archaeological lobby impacted the decision.
See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/10/safe-campaign-against-appointment-of.html
The Complaint also mentions Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, who is a manager of the FBI's Art Theft Program. Ms. Magness-Gardiner formally was a staff archaeologist for the Cultural Property Advisory Committee.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
"Priceless" Has a Price After All
Law enforcement and the archaeological community are fond of claiming that repatriated artifacts are "priceless." Indeed, this term has such a nice ring to it that retired FBI Agent and SAFE honoree Robert Wittman named the book about his 20 year career as an art sleuth, "Priceless."
Well, it turns out at least the movie rights to Wittman's book do indeed have a price, at least according to a lawsuit Wittman filed against a would-be filmmaker of the story. See
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/11/12/31792.htm
More importantly, one also wonders if it is appropriate for a federal law enforcement official to be allowed to make money off his career in such a fashion. I'm sure Mr. Wittman is personally above reproach, but one can easily imagine the scenario where the prospect of fame and a movie deal might impact enforcement priorities in some fashion.
Well, it turns out at least the movie rights to Wittman's book do indeed have a price, at least according to a lawsuit Wittman filed against a would-be filmmaker of the story. See
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/11/12/31792.htm
More importantly, one also wonders if it is appropriate for a federal law enforcement official to be allowed to make money off his career in such a fashion. I'm sure Mr. Wittman is personally above reproach, but one can easily imagine the scenario where the prospect of fame and a movie deal might impact enforcement priorities in some fashion.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Additional Research for Criminologists
It seems that there are further efforts to analyze cultural property issues as criminal law issues. See
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/2010/11/arca-panel-at-2010-american-society-of_23.html
But there needs to be more analysis of the foreign laws that form the basis of defining action in the United States as "criminal."
The governments of the most aggressive "source countries" have been rightly criticised to one degree or another for their authoritarian ways, their endemic corruption, or their excessive regulation. Under the circumstances, should law enforcement and the courts use our criminal law to effectuate broad declarations of foreign ownership made by such countries so uncritically? Congress thought it was retaining our nation's "independent judgment" in such matters when it passed the CPIA, but aggressive law enforcement agencies with the help of the archaeological community have broadened the scope of potential criminal liability for violation of foreign law markedly since the CPIA was passed. No one would advocate effectuating foreign laws on press freedom here by prosecuting Americans for insulting foreign leaders. So why put Americans in jail for violations of foreign cultural patrimony laws?
There also is the issue of how foreign patrimony laws are enforced at home. In countries like China and Greece, there is one law for "the ordinary joe" or the foreigner and quite another for those connected to the powerful. Should this also be taken into account before potential criminal liability is considered?
Finally, there is the issue of the effectiveness of foreign cultural patrimony law. For example, I've read that a large percentage of the Bulgarian population is allegedly involved in illicit metal detecting. If so, potential criminal liability has obviously not changed behavior and other approaches, like that embodied in the PAS and Treasure Act should be considered.
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/2010/11/arca-panel-at-2010-american-society-of_23.html
But there needs to be more analysis of the foreign laws that form the basis of defining action in the United States as "criminal."
The governments of the most aggressive "source countries" have been rightly criticised to one degree or another for their authoritarian ways, their endemic corruption, or their excessive regulation. Under the circumstances, should law enforcement and the courts use our criminal law to effectuate broad declarations of foreign ownership made by such countries so uncritically? Congress thought it was retaining our nation's "independent judgment" in such matters when it passed the CPIA, but aggressive law enforcement agencies with the help of the archaeological community have broadened the scope of potential criminal liability for violation of foreign law markedly since the CPIA was passed. No one would advocate effectuating foreign laws on press freedom here by prosecuting Americans for insulting foreign leaders. So why put Americans in jail for violations of foreign cultural patrimony laws?
There also is the issue of how foreign patrimony laws are enforced at home. In countries like China and Greece, there is one law for "the ordinary joe" or the foreigner and quite another for those connected to the powerful. Should this also be taken into account before potential criminal liability is considered?
Finally, there is the issue of the effectiveness of foreign cultural patrimony law. For example, I've read that a large percentage of the Bulgarian population is allegedly involved in illicit metal detecting. If so, potential criminal liability has obviously not changed behavior and other approaches, like that embodied in the PAS and Treasure Act should be considered.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Should Law Enforcement Accept Awards at a Fundraiser for an Archaeological Advocacy Group?
Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE), an archaeological advocacy group, is using awards to current and former federal law enforcement officials as a draw for its annual fundraiser. See
http://www.savingantiquities.org/event.php?eventID=235 DHS, FBI and DOJ employees can attend at a discounted rate only available to SAFE members.
SAFE's "Beacon Awards" honorees have or had enforcement authority relating to the import of cultural antiquities. Some might find this troubling. SAFE has in the past taken what many consider to be an extreme view as to what is "stolen" or illegally imported under U.S. law. SAFE also regularly conflates its version of morality and legality in its advocacy. Law enforcement should never do so when it enforces the law. In addition, government officials should avoid any appearance of bias or conflict of interest.
Would it be appropriate for a meat inspector to accept an award from PETA or an EPA official to accept an award from Greenpeace?
http://www.savingantiquities.org/event.php?eventID=235 DHS, FBI and DOJ employees can attend at a discounted rate only available to SAFE members.
SAFE's "Beacon Awards" honorees have or had enforcement authority relating to the import of cultural antiquities. Some might find this troubling. SAFE has in the past taken what many consider to be an extreme view as to what is "stolen" or illegally imported under U.S. law. SAFE also regularly conflates its version of morality and legality in its advocacy. Law enforcement should never do so when it enforces the law. In addition, government officials should avoid any appearance of bias or conflict of interest.
Would it be appropriate for a meat inspector to accept an award from PETA or an EPA official to accept an award from Greenpeace?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
South American Sisto Case?
The Sun Sentinel reports that the FBI has repatriated Pre-Columbian artifacts found in the home of a deceased Florida businessman to Peru and Ecuador. See http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-fbi-precolumbian-artifacts-20091201,0,3969102.story
A retirement home manager found the collection in the man's home when she was preparing the property for resale. She called in the FBI "after searching the Internet" and determining that the objects "were illegal to possess."
The businessman apparently had no heirs (or perhaps no one looked very hard to find them) so there was no one with an interest in asking if the retirement home manager was "jumping to a conclusion."
The FBI and Florida International University apparently were not interested in anything other than identifying which cultures produced the objects so they could be repatriated to the governments of the modern nation states that occupy the land that produced them.
This incident reminds me of the recent Sisto case and some of the the issues that raised. For more, see http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/search?q=Sisto
I also am also highly dubious of the claim of the FBI agent in the video that suggests that these artifacts will be put on display in Peru and Ecuador. Both countries have large stashes of similar artifacts in storage. The public typically never sees such artifacts, and, indeed, they may be subject to deterioration or theft.
A retirement home manager found the collection in the man's home when she was preparing the property for resale. She called in the FBI "after searching the Internet" and determining that the objects "were illegal to possess."
The businessman apparently had no heirs (or perhaps no one looked very hard to find them) so there was no one with an interest in asking if the retirement home manager was "jumping to a conclusion."
The FBI and Florida International University apparently were not interested in anything other than identifying which cultures produced the objects so they could be repatriated to the governments of the modern nation states that occupy the land that produced them.
This incident reminds me of the recent Sisto case and some of the the issues that raised. For more, see http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/search?q=Sisto
I also am also highly dubious of the claim of the FBI agent in the video that suggests that these artifacts will be put on display in Peru and Ecuador. Both countries have large stashes of similar artifacts in storage. The public typically never sees such artifacts, and, indeed, they may be subject to deterioration or theft.
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