The illicit trade of cultural property continues to plague our collective history, with many governments, including the United States, warning that it also threatens our global security and economy. American calls for action have been echoed by a wide range of international partners—including groups like the United Nations Security Council, Group of 20, European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and ASEAN.

For too long, we’ve also seen bad actors misuse the art market to launder money, evade sanctions, and hide their illicit antiquities with only the cultural sector actively working to combat them.

On June 5, 2023, the Antiquities Coalition held a roundtable with experts from various backgrounds to discuss how governments, law, civil society, and more can support the culture sector in combating cultural racketeering.

These recommendations focused on actions beyond heritage preservation and emphasized that mitigating the illicit antiquities trade is a shared responsibility. Better archaeology can not solve this problem alone, we need to strengthen law enforcement, international cooperation, and economic integrity. The illicit trade of art and antiquities should not be the burden of the cultural sector alone.

During the roundtable, participants discussed how the fight against cultural racketeering is linked with the broader goals of the United States, including combating transnational crime, protecting legal markets, and building stronger relationships with their allies. They also emphasized how these actions benefit all sectors of society.

The Antiquities Coalition thanks those who participated in the roundtable and looks forward to collaborating with experts across all industries to strengthen legal frameworks and preserve and protect cultural heritage.

The illegal trade of antiquities is not a victimless crime. Across the globe, the looting of cultural heritage and antiquities is a source of conflict funding for some of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations and criminals. However, these crimes often go unprosecuted and unreported, despite serious humanitarian consequences.

Profits generated from the illegal trade of antiquities are used by terrorist organizations to fund violence, purchase weapons, and recruit and compensate members. Often, even when perpetrators of cultural racketeering are brought to justice, they do not face serious consequences that would deter their involvement in illegal trade. 

The Antiquities Coalition is thrilled to have the support of The Docket, a project of The Clooney Foundation for Justice, whose investigation and report Looted Antiquities: Financing War Crimes and Terrorism makes the case that these perpetrators should be charged with funding of terrorism and war crimes for their involvement in the illegal trade of antiquities. In 2020, The Docket launched a multi-country investigation tracking the smuggling of antiquities from Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen into European markets and the United States. The Docket explores international networks responsible for the looting and smuggling of antiquities from the MENA region, and details how the trade of these stolen artifacts funds war crimes and terrorism, and how these crimes can be prosecuted. 

At a Roundtable Luncheon with the Antiquities Coalition, Anya Neistat, Legal Director of The Docket, joined Deborah Lehr, Chairman and Founder of the Antiquities Coalition, for a conversation about the findings of the report and next steps that might aid in the global fight against looting. 

Neistat explained that The Docket sought to build a case that there is reason to charge these perpetrators of cultural racketeering for war crimes and funding of terrorism on the grounds that traders are often aware that the sale of their items ultimately benefited terrorist organizations abroad. These charges carry heavier sentences than the typical financial charges that illegal traders may have previously faced and seeks to draw attention to the reality of the illegal antiquity trade as a significant funding source for violent organizations. The Antiquities Coalition supports this new approach. 

It’s important for the public and lawmakers to recognize that cultural racketeering is not a victimless crime of the elite class. Through extensive open-source and field research, The Docket prepared investigative files on individuals and entities involved in the antiquities trade in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. Additionally, The Docket has established relationships with law enforcement authorities in these countries to trigger the prosecutions of these individuals as accomplices to war crimes and financing of terrorism. 

It’s important that world leaders, as well as the public, understand the stakes and consequences of the illegal antiquities trade and take steps to prosecute perpetrators of these crimes. The Antiquities Coalition thanks The Clooney Foundation for Justice and all participants in our roundtable discussion for their work to end cultural racketeering and uncover strategies to safeguard our shared cultural heritage.

Secretary Kerry Takes Key Steps to End Trafficking of Antiquities

Secretary Kerry visits the National Museum in Phnom Penh

The Antiquities Coalition commended Secretary of State John Kerry for highlighting today the US government’s commitment to working with global partners to end the trade of blood antiquities in Cambodia and for underscoring the importance of combating cultural racketeering during his trip this week to Southeast Asia. The organization’s Executive Director played a role in recovering and repatriating stolen art from Cambodia prior to joining the Antiquities Coalition.

“The cooperation agreed to by Secretary Kerry and Prime Minister Hun Sen demonstrates a commitment that the looting and trafficking of ‘blood antiquities’ will not be tolerated,” said Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition, who was knighted in 2015 by the Royal Government of Cambodia for her work recovering treasures that Sec. Kerry viewed today.

Deborah Lehr, Chairman and founder of the Antiquities Coalition, said “Secretary Kerry is a leader on the issue of cultural preservation which is critical not only for protecting humanity’s shared heritage, but also for strengthening the foundations of peace and security in countries that depend on their cultural heritage for economic stability and a shared sense of national identity.”

Secretary Kerry met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh today to discuss the importance of building democracy, fighting extremism, and enhancing economic development in the context of the U.S.-Cambodian partnership. As part of this broader effort, both leaders highlighted the importance of cooperation between the U.S. and Cambodia to preserve Cambodia’s rich heritage.

Executive Director Tess Davis with the original pedestals from two of the statues visited by Kerry.

As Secretary Kerry stated, “In every meeting, I made clear that we are committed […] to building on the progress that we have already made in education, health, cultural preservation.” He added, “I had the privilege of visiting the national cultural museum earlier this morning where artifacts have recently been returned from the United States to Cambodia. And that museum is an extraordinary asset, a goldmine of treasure from the past.”

“Prime Minister Hun Sen has made repatriation of looted Cambodian antiquities a priority of his administration,” said Davis. “Secretary of State Chan Tani has tirelessly lead these investigations and negotiations. With their victories, Cambodia has played David to the international art market’s Goliath.”

The Antiquities Coalition was honored to host His Excellency Chan Tani in May 2014 at a roundtable discussion, along with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, on how the international community can best support Cambodia’s efforts.

“Cambodia is a model of the good and the bad that happens to a country’s heritage during a time of crisis and instability,” said Deborah Lehr, Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition. “There are many lessons to be learned from their experience as we work to prevent similar destruction and looting in the Middle East.”

Secretary Kerry was photographed admiring a series of 1000-year-old Khmer masterpieces, which the kingdom has recently recovered from the United States in cooperation with the U.S. Government. Along with countless other antiquities, these treasures were plundered from Khmer Rouge territory during the Cambodian Civil War. They were then trafficked onto the international market, with some eventually landing at top American auction houses and museums. In 2011, the Royal Government of Cambodia launched a campaign to bring its looted antiquities home. They have since recovered major works — one both from Sotheby’s and Christie’s, two from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and one each from the Norton Simon and Cleveland museums.  They continue this effort today.

The Antiquities Coalition is pleased to congratulate our friend and colleague Rick St. Hilaire, whose blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer has again been selected as one of the American Bar Association’s BLAWG 100!

The ABA Journal grants this honor every year to the very top of legal field’s thousands of blogs. As the magazine “is read by half of the nation’s 1.1 million lawyers,” this recognition brings art and cultural property law to a wide and important audience. St. Hilaire, a 15 year veteran prosecuting attorney and adjunct professor, started the blog in 2010 to report on “cultural property law, heritage trafficking, art crime, and museum risk management.” It now has a wide readership, both in and outside the field, which will only grow with this latest award.

Congrats again to Rick St. Hilaire and Cultural Heritage Lawyer!

Click here to visit Cultural Heritage Lawyer

Click here to visit the full BLAWG 100 List

On Friday, March 6, 2015 — after we learned of the alleged bulldozing of Nimrud by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — the Antiquities Coalition wrote Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging her to open an investigation into ISIS’ war crimes against cultural heritage in northern Iraq.
The attack of Nimrud — following others on the Mosul Library, Mosul Museum, and Assyrian ruins of Nineveh — is a grave violation of domestic Iraqi and international law, including the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.  More importantly, judging from history, it also poses a stark warning that ISIS will soon undertake even greater violence against the besieged Iraqi population: The United Nations (UN) clearly recognizes that such “cultural cleansing” is a specific risk factor of impending genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Read our full letter to Madame Bensouda here.

UPDATE: Read the response from the ICC’s Madame Bensouda here.

Following the events in Mosul last week, the Antiquities Coalition strongly supports the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), and Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Joint Statement on Cultural Destruction in Iraq. We join our partners ASOR and the AIA in condemning all attacks on heritage, but especially those that are used to intimidate populations through a campaign of terror. The ongoing violence by extremist groups such as ISIL and its affiliates demands swift and effective action. We support UNESCO in its recently announced international coalition against cultural racketeering, including its planned strategic summit on security issues like terrorist financing, which will bring together INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and key regional partners in the Middle East. It is time to start exploring solutions to these global threats against our cultural heritage.

See the AIA Joint Statement HERE

The Antiquities Coalition commends the Egypt government’s leadership in the global fight against cultural racketeering – the systematic looting and trafficking of antiquities by criminal organizations or terrorist networks.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, previously Egyptian Ambassador to the United States – speaking at the Embassy in Washington, DC in 2011.
Photo Credit: The Capitol Archaeological Institute

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was in Washington the week of February 15 to build support for Egypt’s efforts to combat extremists.  In his discussions with the White House and the U.S. State Department, he stressed the importance of cutting off sources of funding to groups such as ISIL and al Qaeda, including from cultural racketeering.  These terrorist organizations, as well as organized criminals, are benefiting from the sale of looted antiquities, including those from treasured archaeological sites in Egypt.

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Momdouh el Damaty, in partnership with the Egyptian Foreign

(Left to right} Kate Seelye – Senior Vice President of the Middle East Institute, Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el Damaty, and Deborah Lehr – Chairman, the Antiquities Coalition during recent trip to Cairo, February 2015. Photo Credit: Antiquities Coalition

Ministry, has mobilized their embassies in countries where demand is high for Middle Eastern antiquities. They are actively partnering with auction houses, internet companies and private collectors to stop the sale of looted antiquities. Egyptian artifacts have been seized as far afield as Belgium, Israel, Spain and the United States.  Christies and eBay, for example, have taken steps to ensure they are not sources of illicit antiquities.

In addition, Egypt is convening the countries of the Middle East to develop regional solutions to fight against these terrorist networks. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Antiquities, supported by the Antiquities Coalition and the Middle East Institute, will host a Cairo Summit in May to explore ways to halt terrorist financing though antiquities looting. This Summit will bring together nine countries of the region suffering from cultural racketeering – Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, and Libya – to join forces in the fight.

The Egyptian government is taking a proactive role in the fight against the cultural racketeers. Ministers Shoukry and el Damaty understand the complexity of the problem and are bringing the resources of two ministries to seek solutions.  Bringing together the combined resources of their government in this fight is an important model that we hope all the invited countries will emulate – as well as cooperating government to government to develop regional solutions that will stop this multi-billion dollar industry from putting money into the pockets of organized criminals, armed insurgents, and terrorists.