Interpol Conference on stolen art.
Lyon, France, October 5 - 7.
A very polite and
cautious happening.
CONTENTS:
- GENERAL
- INTERPOL DATABASE
- INTERPOL'S CD ON
STOLEN ART
- TWO PAINTINGS AND FOUR
BEERS: PRESENTATIONS BY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES
- CONCLUSION
GENERAL
The tri-annual Interpol Conference on stolen art this time covered
two major items:
- Disseminating Interpol's database information on stolen art;
- Looting of underwater archaeological and historic/cultural items
The conference was chaired by Karl Heinz Kind (Wiesbaden,
Germany), assisted by Interpol's Jean-Pierre Jouanny.
Several national Interpol branches (NCB's), and some of the
invited non-police organizations presented speeches. In this report only very
short outlines of these speeches will be given. As soon as I receive the
official conference proceedings I will inform you in full about these speeches.
I have asked several speakers to send their presentations as an e-mail
attachment for publication on the Museum Security Website.
Participating Interpol conferences is restricted to specialized
police forces, however related organizations such as the Art Loss Register,
Copat (council for the prevention of art theft), Trace, University of London
etc. etc are allowed to be present.
In general the conference was a very polite, somewhat cautious
happening. Karl-Heinz Kind apparently loves a high-speed conference, even
skipping coffee break the final day. "I did this on purpose; this happens
when you choose a German chairman". Interaction with the participating
Interpol members was rather limited. The only firework was caused by the
representative from Cyprus and on the final day by Jean-Pierre Jouanny after
Malcolm Kenwood's (Art Loss Register) speech. You can read more about this in
the 'PRESENTATIONS BY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES' section of this report
INTERPOL DATABASE ON STOLEN ART.
Interpol has 167 member countries. Only a small fraction of this
membership, some 25, was present at the conference. The first day much time was
spent on the difficulties Interpol's H.Q. is facing in gathering information on
stolen art. The NCB's need to fill out a four pages form (Crigen Art Form)
whenever they want information about a theft added to the central database.
According to Jean-Pierre Jouanny very often these forms are filled out in an
insufficient way and have to be returned to the NCB's for additional
information. Many countries do not bother to send information at all or only
send information about very few cases. In 1998 the USA provided information
about only 16 (91 items) thefts. Much to the annoyance of Jean-Pierre Jouanny
the Art Loss Register was informed about some 800 USA thefts in the same period
(more about this later). France did send information about 7857 (some 35.000
items) thefts.
Some other figures:
Germany: 674 reports; 2345 items
Denmark: 7 (367)
South Africa: 8 (8)
Argentine: 40 (106)
Australia 1654 (2074)
Cyprus: 14 (100)
Spain: 60 (279).... several thousands archaeological items also
were stolen
Russia: 2492 (2827)
Greece: 123 (??)
Israel: 34 (40)
Italy: 2023 (24505)
Mexico: 20 (23)
Monaco: 1 (1)
The Netherlands 93 (460)
Tsjech Republic: 1845 (6465)
Ukraine: 312 (850)
Out of 167 member countries statistics from only some 35 countries
were presented. Interpol mainly is an administrative organization; they seem to
have a lot of problems performing their main task: gathering the necessary
information. Angela Meadow's (senior analyst cultural property program Interpol
Washington) suggestion to allow NCB's to upload information to the database
electronically was rejected. This had been tried in the past. The database was
contaminated within a short period of time and became useless. During coffee
break one of the police officials informed me off the record that the Interpol
papers are too complex and too extensive, and that his force decided a long
time ago to fill out the forms only in part.
Of all 167 countries only 20 use the Interpol Crigen Art Form! The
discussion about this item remained with an open end: the forms used do not
give the desired result and alternative options were not presented or rejected.
Another problem is that often very poor photographs or no photographs at all
accompany the forms. (In Cyprus there is a law obliging all owners of art
objects to make photographs of their possessions and send those to the
department of culture. This has already proved to be very useful: some stolen
objects were found in auction catalogues and recovered.)
The poor dissemination of information about stolen art makes the
quality of the statistics very low. To me, being an outside observer, it was
quite astonishing that all this information about the inability to gather
needed detailed theft reports did not lead to steps or suggestions for
improvement. There should be a lesson in the reality that only one third of the
member countries return Interpol's questionnaires about art theft (55 in 1997,
and 53 in 1998).
No matter how limited the Interpol statistics are, there seems to
be a strong growth in art theft. One wonders how this conclusion is reached...
or how the estimated annual theft of 3 billion dollars has been calculated.
Interesting information is that museums hardly are victims of
theft. The majority of thefts take place at private dwellings.
Most unfortunately there are no statistics at all about the
recovery of art. Interpol also designed a form to report the recovery of art.
This form is even less used by NCB's than the art theft report forms.
INTERPOL'S CD ON STOLEN ART
Thanks to the Easy-form software and its user-friendly interface
NCB's are able to extract information from Interpol's central database via a
secured line connection. Interpol's Mario de Cocq demonstrated the options this
software offers. Tests showed that even from South America it takes only a few
minutes to get information after the queries have been send to the database.
The French representative however prefers the much faster Interpol CD. A very
convincing demonstration was given of the extensive search options the CD
offers. Jouve (http://www.jouve-diffusion.com) deserves credit for the very
user-friendly interface; Interpol deserves credit for the decision to produce
this CD. The discussion about the CD was centralized around two major items:
- It’s role in performing due diligence
- It’s price.
The CD's role regarding due diligence is important, but in itself
not enough to perform due diligence. According to the Unidroit Convention
consulting relevant databases is only part of the due diligence process.
Parties involved, prices asked, and circumstances too must be considered. That
an item is not on the CD does not mean it is not stolen. The CD is updated
every two months; in fact the first update is due next week.
Jouve's Patrice Cohen explained that developing the CD has been a
costly affair. Marketing this product did not start until October 1. This far
just 20 copies have been sold. All NCB's have received a free copy. If the
marketing campaign is successful and many CD's are sold it is very well
possible that the price per CD will go down. If this is necessary for
investigative reasons it is very well possible to keep information about stolen
art out of the public database on the CD.
Disadvantage of the CD is that the information it contains will be
obsolete the moment the CD is published. There is an increasing pressure on
Interpol to go on-line with the database. No decisions into this direction have
been taken yet. A recent poll among member countries -only 35 out of 167 filled
the questionnaire out- shows that a strong majority (of this minority...)
supports the on-line availability of the database.
TWO PAINTINGS AND FOUR BEERS: PRESENTATIONS BY INDIVIDUAL
COUNTRIES
Short outlines of speeches:
Portugal: The Institutio Nacional de Policia e ciencias criminals
together with the policia judiciaria started an internet presentation of stolen
art at: http://www.geira.pt/inpcc/ This far they have 40 items on line. The
database is only in Portuguese. They expect to keep building the database the
next years. Because of it's limited size and the fact that the on line
presentation is only in Portuguese this site will have limited use. However,
the interface created on this site sets a good example of the possibilities the
WWW offers.
____________________________________
France: French police reported in 1998 7800 thefts; 35.000 items were
stolen. Main victims are castles and country houses. 80% of these stolen items
are reported to the police without photographs. French police consider
Interpol's crigen Art Form too complicated. They have developed their own form.
They have build a tri-lingual (French, English, and Dutch) database with some
25.000 stolen items. Plans have been made to link their database to the Italian
database. Both countries suffer from growing theft of art. In France the growth
in 1998 was 40%. At the moment internationally working gangs have a special
interest in 18th century art. Mainly rural areas are being looted.
______________________________________________
Germany: The Bundes Kriminal Amt (BKA) maintains a 140.000 items database
of internationally stolen art. The theft statistics between 1994 - 1998 are
stable and range between 2400 and 2700 thefts per annum. Stolen items are sold
via auctionhouses, antiques dealers, and flee markets. Some cases were
descibed: The Cyprus/Dikmen case, the theft of Renoir/Matisse/Jawlenski stolen
1997 in Zuerich and recovered in Germany, and the Nordic Lion that was stolen
in Poland 1992.
________________________________________
Sweden: Burglaries in general have grown 60 to 70% in the past 10 years.
There is no specific art theft statistic. More burglaries took place in country
houses and castles. August this year a burglary took place at the Liljefors
Museum about 130 km north of Stockholm. 11 Paintings with a total value of
$.625.000.00 were stolen. All paintings by the Swedish painter Bruno Liljefors.
These paintings are of limited value on the international art market with
exception of Sweden and the USA.
___________________________________________
Rumania: at http://www.verena.ro/brukenthal/en_1968.htm information can
be found about a 1968 theft of eight paintings and the recovery of four in
1998.
Duna Punga, the Rumanian speaker, tells that Rumania has a new law
on protecting cultural property. At the moment there is too little security in
Rumanian museums and inventory is far from sufficient. Owners of art by law are
obliged to register their art items, and museums are obliged to install
electronic security. Rumania maintains a list of suspects with information
about their modi operandi. Interpol offers to make such a list on an
international level. Member countries are responsible for sending information
to Interpol. Chili is convinced that large international networks with a Mafia
like structure steal and sell art(ifacts). A lot is being stolen in Chili at
the moment. The French representative wants to know if there is any insight in
trends. Jean-Pierre Jouanny replies that this should be studied but that
Interpol in understaffed and has not enough budgets. The Jordan representative
informs the conference that his country is very rich in (archaeological)
artifacts. "If you dig two meters deep there is a very good chance to find
valuables". Many items are sold to foreigners working at embassies.
__________________________________________
USA. (Lynne Chaffinch FBI). Art theft in the USA is not an organized
crime affair. Very often criminals do not seem to know what they steal. They
show little knowledge of art. From an historic site mainly reproductions were
stolen. In one case two paintings and four cans of beer (of a mediocre brand)
were stolen. In general stolen items are of low level and low value. The FBI
maintains a database with some 8.000 items (starting back 20 years). The USA is
the 'consumers' of stolen art. Interstate transportation of art with a value of
over $. 5.000.00 is a federal offense. Punishment for theft of art has always
been rather low. Recently judges are inclined to punish more severely. Not only
the monetary value is considered but also historic value. The FBI on-line art
theft program is mainly maintained for public relations reasons, not for the
recovery of art.
Jane Levine (Assistant U.S. Attorney, southern district New York):
A seizure warrant is needed to confiscate art. That a possessor does not know
art items are stolen is not relevant. In that case too stolen art can be
claimed without compensation for the owner. Bona fide purchasers will only get
compensation if the country where the art comes from is willing to compensate.
Innocent owner defense will be rejected by court. US laws do not provide
compensation. According to the Cultural property act stolen art can be seized
if:
- There is good proof that it is stolen
- When is was stolen
- Where is was stolen
- Where and when it entered the USA
- If there is proof that the confiscated object is the same as the
stolen object.
____________________________________
Interpol's Mario de Cocq presented the criminal intelligence analysis and
an evaluation after six years. The way Interpol uses data provided by member
countries was shown. The analytical criminal intelligence unit (ACIU) provides
analytical assistance to member countries. Mario demonstrated the search
options and special developed software programs with which data can be
retrieved from Interpol's databases.
More information about this can be asked via:
D2sd4aciu@interpol.int
____________________________________
Algeria: policemen received a special university training archaeology.
There is a vast trade in archaeological items. Items stolen from museums and
sites are sold in Europe. The special unit has already had some successes.
________________________________________
Denmark: A Danish policeman gave an extensive account of the recovery of
the Rembrandt and Bellini paintings that were stolen January 29 this year.
There was no electronic security equipment in the museum and only one guard was
present. After the theft he forgot to press the alarm button, but used the
telephone to call for assistance. Suspects, all known by police, have been
arrested. Neither of them was connected to art thefts in the past. Negotiations
with London based lawyers, the insurance company and the museum finally led to
a higher reward than originally offered and return of the paintings. The
policeman insisted that no ransom was paid.
________________________________
Spain: Lorenzo Monteiro. The theft of privately owned cultural property
has increased. Items mainly stolen: furniture, ceramics, and clocks. Recently 3
gangs from France, with links to Portugal and Belgium were arrested. Many art
items have been sold to large companies in the Middle East. Gangs are very well
organized. Information was given about a case with forged ivory and jade
objects. The Swiss representative suggests a special database should be made
about fake art. At the moment there is a lot of fake art in Switzerland.
Interpol will set up a special group devoted to the struggle against forged
art.
______________________________________
Korea: Jongsok Kim (Ph.D. candidate City University London). Korean
ancient art items are extremely rare and hence very valuable. At a Christie's
1996 auction two jars were sold at prices very far over the estimates. Stolen
items are exported. 1998 Korean police succeeded in recovering a group of
ceramics, total value $ 6.000.000.00. Mr. Kim warned for faked Korean art.
There is a cultural properties protection act in Korea. Object-Id recently was
translated into Korean.
_______________________________________
Slovakia: this speech is available on line at:
http://www.museum-security.org/lyon1999/cultural-heritage-in-Slovak-Republic.htm
_____________________________________
Cyprus: Panayiotis Nicolaides. Mr. Nicolaides delivered a fierce speech
with rather political contents: "The history of Cyprus is one of the
oldest recorded in the world. The first signs of civilization go back 9,000
years. The survival of Aphrodite's civilization, which has outlived numerous
conquerors over the centuries, is today endangered and almost in it's
disappearance due to the fact that a great part of the island is since 1974
under Turkish control. Since July 1974 a great part of Cyprus' cultural
heritage has been destroyed, looted and illegally traded in different countries
of the world. It is estimated that more than 60,000 artifacts have been cut
into pieces and illegally transferred in different countries of the world.
Furthermore, more than 16,000 Christian icons and many mosaics have been
stolen."
Mr. Nicolaides too referred to the Dikmen case.
I hope to be able to present this speech on line soon.
___________________________________________
European Union. Spanish representative of the E.U. An
overview of cultural programs was given. The suggestion with which this speech
ended was very worthwhile. The E.U. might be willing, this must be proposed, to
pay for a TV commercial stimulating owners of cultural property to register and
photograph their possessions.
__________________________________________
UNESCO: information about conventions and the problem and damage caused
by the growth of amateur divers. Archaeological sites and shipwrecks are
damaged and looted.
__________________________________________
France: Patrice Grandjean. Marine archaeological research, department of
cultural affairs and communications. According to an old Royal decision all
trade in artifacts found in rivers and lakes is marked illicit. France has some
150.000 amateur divers. Positive is that a lot more is discovered at sea. The
negative side is that too much is being damaged. Amateur divers and collectors
in general are only interested in ship's cargos. For historical research the
ship itself is very important. The specialized police forces by far do not have
enough manpower to tackle the problem of stealing and looting. The logo of many
diving clubs is an amphora (!). Fines for stealing underwater objects are very
low.
_________________________________________
USA: Bureau of educational and cultural affairs, dept. of State.
Image database on line. Not stolen items but samples of items that need to be
protected. This image database is offered to Interpol to add to a next update
of the CD. Import restrictions need to be implemented...
http://e.usia.gov/education/culprop/database.html
culprop@usia.gov
Croatia: Anita Mikoloc. Protection of underwater archaeological sites in
the Republic of Croatia. Due to the growth of tourism the pillaging of
underwater sites has increased tremendously. There is a special department
monitoring over 300 sites. Specialized archaeologists also are divers. A lot
has been achieved the past years. Cooperation with all authorities (including
specialized police forces) works well. Croatia has one underwater site where
there are over 100 amphorae. Registering and describing amphorae constitutes a
problem.
Italy: Cultural heritage program regarding underwater archaeology...
(More info when the conference proceedings are available.
Spain: Guardia Civil. All archaeological sites, including underwater
sites, belong to the state. People recovering items can get compensation from
the state. Looting is done by amateur divers, but also by organized crime.
Looted items are sold at flea markets, exported, or sold via the Internet.
Recently more than 900 items were intercepted. Case was revealed about a
Californian Internet auction house selling stolen coins. Sophisticated
equipment is used to steal cave paintings. There is a good cooperation with
Portuguese and Italian police forces.
USA, National Park Services. Presentation about underwater
archaeology. Some international case studies were presented.
COPAT: Council for the prevention of art theft. Robin Thornes.
Non-profit organization. Every police force in the U.K. has due diligence
officers. Recently Copat took over Getty’s Object-Id. 84 countries and some
1000 organizations worked together developing Object-Id.
Publication: Guidelines for making records that describe art, antiques
and antiquities. This book can be ordered on line at:
http://www.getty.edu/publications
Art Loss Register: Malcolm Kenwood. 1991 the ALR took over
IFAR's database. At the moment the ALR has some 120.000 items in the database.
1200 Items are added each month. Twelve art historians scan auctions catalogues
and match this information with the database of stolen art. This far $ 85
million worth has been traced and recovered. Malcolm Kenwood presented recent
cases. These cannot be revealed in this report because there is an ongoing
police investigation. A beginning is made with scanning on line auctions. These
auctions present a special problem for the ALR has only a few days to match
this information with their database. Malcolm's presentation is on line at:
http://www.museum-security.org/lyon1999/alr.htm
CONCLUSIONS, FINAL REMARKS:
These days in Lyon were very interesting and sometimes revealing.
Interpol's decision to produce the Stolen Art CD deserves admiration. This
innovating endeavor however is shaded by the inability to design a
user-friendly interface (by preference electronically) with which member
countries can report information about thefts and recovery of objects.
Jouanny's complaint about the inadequate delivery of information combined with
national committees’ complaints about the too elaborate reporting forms should
have generated plans for improvement. Now, so it seems, the status quo will be
maintained. Jouanny's furious reaction after Malcolm Kenwood's speech, in which
he learned that the ALR gets a lot more information from USA police forces than
Interpol, was misplaced. In fact the conclusion was justified that the present
system is inadequate and needs to be changed. There is a contradiction in his
anger about a private organization getting more information from police forces
than Interpol, whilst on the other hand he states that Interpol will never have
the means to compare databases with art offered for sale. This three-day
conference in fact was all about the difficult exchange of information.
Finally, this goes for the Art Loss Register as well, a major step forward will
be an on line presence of databases of stolen art. It is very well possible to
make a division between publicly available information and information
restricted for police forces. An on line database makes it possible to retrieve
information about those consulting the database. The next conference's subject
must not be 'if' on line presence is needed, but 'how' this can be realized.