UNESCO

UNITED NATIONS
EDUCATIONAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND
CULTURAL
ORGANIZATION

ENGLISH
Illicit trafficking in cultural

heritage
 INDEX
COMMITTEE BACKGROUND 4

TOPIC BACKGROUND 6

COMMITTEE FOCUS 14

RELEVANT QUESTIONS OR ARTICLES

15

REFERENCES 16
 Topic: Illicit
trafficking in
cultural heritage
 I. Committee background
The League of Nations' decision to establish an International
Commission for Intellectual Cooperation, based in Geneva, on
January 4, 1922, is particularly notable, as it will have the
International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation as its executive
agency beginning in 1925. On November 16, 1945, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) was established. The General Conference and the
Executive Board run UNESCO, which has 195 members and 8
associate members. The Secretariat, led by the Director-General, is
in charge of putting these two organization’s decisions into action.
This Organization has more than 50 offices all around the world
and its main headquarters are located in Paris, France.

UNESCO strives to foster interaction across civilizations, cultures,

and people's based on mutual respect for shared ideals. The world
can achieve global visions of sustainable development through this
dialogue, which include human rights observance, mutual respect,
and poverty alleviation, all of which are central to UNESCO's
mission and activities.

Cultural property theft, looting, and illicit trafficking are all illegal.
It robs people of their history and culture, and it erodes social
cohesion over time. It contributes to the financing of terrorists and
fuels organized crime. UNESCO has been establishing benchmark
legal instruments since its inception, notably the 1970 Convention,
which was the culmination of a long process of reflection on the
battle against illicit cultural property trafficking. Acting against
illicit cultural property trafficking and protecting cultural assets is
a common responsibility.
 II. Topic background
The illicit trafficking of cultural assets generates a profitable illegal
change, with a high-quality percent of stolen artefacts by no means
being recovered. This activity, irritated with the aid of using herbal
screw ups and armed conflicts, poses an vast hazard now no longer
best to cultural assets, however additionally to the collective
reminiscence of destiny generations, and hinders the capacity of
way of life as a number one vector for financial development.

Indeed, goal four of the Sustainable Development Goal sixteen

specially addresses the recuperation and go back of stolen
belongings and accordingly the fight in opposition to gangland that
is regularly a large difficulty in opposition to the backdrop of the
several conflicts, affecting supply nations and accordingly the
ensuing change gadgets of doubtful provenance. After the Second
war, the worldwide market for works of artwork, significantly
archaeological gadgets, expanded dramatically. With the very great
of colonialism, lots of the ones newly unbiased nations
commenced to appear for felony and realistic manners to preserve
what remained in their heritage, after lots had been misplaced to
the colonial powers.

The worldwide network, below the management of UNESCO,

sought to draft an alternative worldwide conference to confront the
unlawful change of cultural gadgets. These efforts ended within the
UNESCO Convention on Measures to ban and stop the Illicit
Import, Export and Transfer of Property of Cultural Property
(hereinafter mentioned as "the 1970 Convention"), the worldwide
treaty that gives a framework complete for the important
prevention, export and exchange of cultural goods.

UNESCO, due to the fact the only United Nations organization

with a particular mandate concerning the safety of cultural assets,
is the depository of the Convention. Since its adoption, UNESCO
has advanced an thorough community with companions and works
carefully with specialised institutions – like UNIDROIT,
INTERPOL, the sector Customs Organization, the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime and accordingly the International
Council of Museums - to deliver coverage and technical help to
affected Member States and facilitate diplomatic cooperation for
the go back of cultural assets.

The Organization accordingly enjoys robust partnerships in help of

the 1970 Convention, and maintains to extend its community of
companions, together with from the artwork marketplace,
academia and tourism industry. The 1970 Convention has won
significance inside the context of the multiplication of conflicts
and accordingly the pointy upward thrust of site visitors of cultural
assets. Indeed, the UN Security Council stated the triumphing
hyperlinks among terrorist and transnational prepared crook
businesses, additionally due to the fact using numerous styles of
illicit trafficking - significantly cultural gadgets - to fund terrorist
and crook operations in its Resolution 2199, followed in February
2015.

In March 2017, the UN Security Council followed Resolution

2347, the number one ever decision solely targeted on cultural
heritage, spotting the destruction of cultural heritage, spiritual
webweb sites and artefacts and accordingly the smuggling of
cultural assets with the aid of using terrorist businesses as a
protection imperative. Currently ratified with the aid of one
hundred forty nations, the worldwide network should share efforts
to inspire extra ratifications so as to create an accepted coalition to
counter this scourge.

The effectiveness of the Convention relies upon the felony,

institutional and human environments of States Parties and at the
harmonization of country wide legislations, which require
tremendous investments in coverage and capacity-building.
However, a good deal should be achieved to enhance
consciousness amongst public selection makers, enforcement
agents, the artwork marketplace and accordingly the overall public
at the illicit change of cultural assets and its consequences.

UNESCO 1970 Convention and the Nicosia convention: awareness

raising as a fundamental means of preventing the illicit trafficking
in cultural property.

Ignorance and negative ethics are at the very root of the illicit
trafficking in cultural belongings, therefore the significance of
training and focus-elevating in countering this activity.
Convention, whilst the supporting function of the Secretariat as
regards «statistics and training» is echoed in Article 17.
The Operational Guidelines of the Convention additionally commit
a subchapter to Education with the intention of guiding States
Parties in imposing the provisions of the Convention in this matter.

Parties are advocated to reinforce the powerful implementation of

the basic concepts of the convention now no longer simplest thru
suitable rules and their complete enforcement, however
additionally thru training and focus elevating, capacity-
constructing and bolstered global cooperation.
In line with the inclinations of the 1970 Convention, many
countries Parties have applied in the beyond years focus elevating
activities, some of them centered in particular on illicit trafficking
of cultural belongings, whilst others are related to cultural history
generally. Target companies consist of youth, museum visitors,
travelers touring throughout borders, neighborhood groups
dwelling subsequent to archaeological sites, artwork creditors or
the general public.
When looking the keystones of the UNESCO Convention and its
Operational Guidelines, the International Guidelines for Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses declare to trafficking in
Cultural Property and some of different guidelines followed
through professional conferences of agencies like UNESCO,
UNIDROIT, UNODC, INTERPOL and ICOM, it will become
clear that the Council of Europe Convention on Offences regarding
Cultural Property consists of comparable preventive measures. In
fact, the Nicosia Convention deals in particular with the
criminalization of the illicit trafficking of cultural belongings and
consequently the harmonization of the numerous extraordinary
countrywide crook legislations.
Indeed, Article 20 on measures to be taken at home level, in
particular tackles focus-elevating issues.
Convention. This consists of the occasion of inventories, creation
of import/export guidelines, creation of due diligence concepts for
artwork and antiquity sellers. involved, allowing the tracking and
reporting of suspicious objects among different measures. The
Nicosia Convention additionally urges States to make certain that
museums whose acquisition coverage is beneath country manage
do not purchase any stolen, illegally excavated or exported cultural
belongings. The Convention similarly encourages personal
museums and collections to fit moral rules. However, Article 20 is
going similarly than the preventive provisions underlined through
the 1970 Convention, which includes precise provisions on net
carrier issuer guidelines and unfastened ports.
 III. Committee focus
We as chairs are looking for the capacity and knowledge of
cultural heritage and appropriation to grow. Each nation spreads
awareness of the problem to the present and future generations.
It's been 50 years since the creation of the campaign and there are
more and more cases every year. What is happening? We are
looking for a more specific, more deep and intense research of
what changes can be made regarding the situation as well as better
more profound ways to reduce the cases of the trafficking of
cultural heritage.
Relevant questions or
articles

1. What are the main problems your county is

facing regarding illicit trafficking in cultural
heritage?
2. What is your country willing to contribute to
illicit trafficking in cultural heritage?
3. Is your country currently acting and working on
solutions to illicit trafficking in cultural
heritage?
4. Is there cooperation with your nation and other
delegations to work together and solve the
problem?
 References
UNESCO. (n.d.). The Organization’s History.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/%20unesco/about-us/who-we-
are/history/
Azoulay ,A. (2020, November 14). International Day against
Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property. United Nation
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/dayagainstIllicit
UNESCO. (s. f.). Cultura & Desarrollo – No al tráfico ilícito
de bienes culturales | Organización de las Naciones Unidas
para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura. Recuperado 12 de
agosto de 2021, de
http://www.unesco.org/new/es/culture/themes/illicit-
trafficking-of-cultural-property/publications/culture-
development-stop-the-illicit-traffic-of-cultural-property/
INTERPOL. (s. f.). Problemática – bienes culturales.
Recuperado 12 de agosto de 2021, de
https://www.interpol.int/es/Delitos/Delitos-contra-el-
patrimonio-cultural/Problematica-bienes-culturales
INAH. (2020, 14 febrero). La Secretaría de Cultura y el INAH
trabajan para combatir el tráfico ilícito de patrimonio cultural y
recuperarlo. https://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/8924-la-
secretaria-de-cultura-y-el-inah-trabajan-para-combatir-el-
trafico-ilicito-de-patrimonio-cultural-y-recuperarlo
UNESCO. (1999). La prevencion del trafico ilicito de Bienes
Culturales.
http://www.lacult.unesco.org/docc/Manual_de_la_UNESCO.p
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