While cultural heritage smuggling is not a new phenomenon, the rise of Da’esh and Al Qaeda affiliates has raised the alarm internationally on the looting of cultural property for terrorism financing. Since the early 1980s, terrorist and insurgent groups have been exploiting the lucrative illegal market of cultural artifacts to fund their activities. Addressing this, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) convened an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) this week to foster collaboration among global experts and stakeholders in tackling this multifaceted challenge and threat.
Bringing together a diverse array of experts from government agencies, NGOs, academia, law enforcement, and international organizations, the EGM was designed to enhance collective understanding of the cultural heritage smuggling landscape and its nexus with terrorism financing and explore strategies for improving collaboration amongst a broad range of actors to combat this illicit trade effectively. The meeting also offered an opportunity to present a forthcoming publication by UNICRI on the topic of cultural heritage smuggling and the nexus with terrorism.
“We must adopt a multi-pronged approach that addresses the root causes of cultural heritage trafficking while disrupting the financial networks that sustain terrorist organizations,” noted Leif Villadsen, Acting Director, UNICRI, during the EGM’s opening. “The trafficking of cultural heritage is not merely a crime against property but an assault on our collective humanity.”
Svetlana Martynova, Senior Legal Officer and Coordinator on Countering the Financing of Terrorism, CTED, meanwhile recalled that within the framework of its assessments and engagement with partners, CTED has noted that there is a persistent shortage of data and information on the scale and scope of the illicit trade of cultural property, compounded by limited awareness and harmonization of existing relevant legal and policy instruments.
In this regard, CTED has consistently highlighted the need for proactive investigations into the linkages with terrorism, including parallel financial investigations, noting that many States lacked relevant frameworks, capacity, or will to do so. Despite intelligence efforts, establishing a link between cultural smuggling and terrorism financing in legal courts remains challenging, hindering effective countermeasures. Terrorist and insurgent groups have, however, long been seen to be exploiting the illicit market for cultural artifacts to fund their activities, capitalizing on regional smuggling networks, and exploiting conflicts to facilitate their operations.
To further highlight this trend, CTED and UNICRI have undertaken several initiatives in recent years, including research studies and partnership projects with organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These efforts aim to enhance understanding, cooperation, and the criminal justice response to combat cultural heritage smuggling and its links to terrorism.
Addressing the topic, participants joining the EGM delved into key issues such as the scope of the phenomenon, obstacles to uncovering links between terrorism financing and antiquities smuggling, and the effectiveness of existing partnerships and policies.
An overview of the forthcoming UNICRI study’s findings and recommendations on cultural heritage smuggling and terrorism financing was presented by Christian Vianna de Azevedo, Senior Fellow at UNICRI. Actionable recommendations generated during the discussions will inform future initiatives by CTED, UNICRI, and other stakeholders, underscoring the collective commitment to safeguarding cultural heritage and countering transnational crime.
During the EGM, participants highlighted the importance of a holistic approach and sustained collaboration amongst the public and private sectors, as well as between source, transit and destinations countries, and increased research on the nexus of cultural heritage smuggling and terrorism financing, including in focusing on finances and money flows.
Discussions also drew attention to the global scale of the illicit trade, from source to transit and destination countries, as well as linkages observed with other global illicit flows. They emphasized the need for all art market participants, from museums to auction houses, to exercise due diligence, and for experts in cultural heritage protection and art law specialists to support investigations and prosecution efforts.
The digital dimension of the trade was also brought to the fore, noting the way in which social media platforms can be exploited by terrorists to advance the illicit trade of cultural property as well as generate proceeds from other related activities, for example through monetization. In this regard, experts recalled the critical role that social media platforms and technology companies can play in both unintentionally facilitating but also preventing and detecting the illicit trade for terrorist purposes, as well as the importance of States efforts in upholding corporate liability in this space.
In closing remarks, CTED’s Coordinator of Political Analysis and Research, Racheal Atley, highlighted some of the gaps discussed, including as they relate to the criminal justice response. In that respect, she introduced a new project CTED is initiating in collaboration with UNESCO and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) on enhancing the criminal justice response to the terrorist dimension of the destruction and illicit trade of cultural property, over a three-year period.
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