Cambodian
Artifacts Get Added Protection
The
Council of Ministers has approved an international
convention that would allow Cambodian officials to file
lawsuits against foreign collectors who buy artifacts
stolen from the nation's temples.
The
Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural
Objects could have huge implications for Cambodia, which
has lost precious cultural heritage to smugglers who chop
heads off statues and pry bas-relief tiles off temples to
meet the demands of art markets from Thailand to the US.
Though
Potentially Powerful in its ability to secure the rehire
of such valuable stonework, the convention has been
ratified by just 12 countries, and none of the Western
nations where most of the looted artifacts end up have
agreed to its terms.
Still,
officials here praised the measure as a tool to wield
against smugglers.
"The
stealing and trafficking of artifacts is destroying the
nation," said Michel Tranet, undersecretary of state
for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.
The
little that is known about smuggled items leaving Cambodia
comes through police busts.
In January 1999, for example, Thai border police
stopped a smugglers' truck and seized 122 artifacts,
including heads of giants taken from Angkor Thom temple,
eventually returning them to Cambodia.
The
convention was organized at a 1995 meeting of the
Rome-based International Institute for the Unification of
Private Law attended by representatives from 80 countries.
It
is in addition to a more widely followed 1970 Unesco
convention that order the return of stolen artifacts
through diplomatic channels.
The
newer convention, on the other band, allows a country to
file a lawsuit in the courts of the nation where the
artifact ends up.
The
convention also requires international art dealers to list
the ownership history of an item before offering it for
sale.
Since
few countries have
signed the new convention, no lawsuits will likely
be filed anytime soon.
Unesco
program officer Asier Segurola said it will take time and
political commitment to get more nations to ratify the
convention, especially wealthier counties.
"It
takes a longer time for importing nations to sign
on," he said.
The
Council of Ministers approved the ratification of the
LTNIDROIT convention on Feb 23. The convention will now be
submitted to the National Assembly for approval.
