site.btaIrina Bokova: UNESCO Takes Measures against Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Objects from Middle East

Irina Bokova: UNESCO Takes Measures against Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Objects from Middle East

Sofia, April 6 (BTA) - UNESCO is taking concrete measures
against illegal trafficking in cultural objects from the Middle
East, a practice which is a source of funding for extremist
activities, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said in an
interview at Studio BTA on Monday.

Bokova said that the deliberate destruction of valuable
artifacts in the Middle East, the cradle of civilization, is a
tragedy for humanity. UNESCO has alerted the international
community, the UN Security Council and the Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court in order to enable the security
factors to make necessary political or even military decisions,
she said.

The murkier aspect of this process of destruction is illegal
trafficking in cultural objects, Bokova said. UNESCO is working
very actively to combat the practice, she said, recalling that
on April 1 she met with major UNESCO partners, such as Interpol,
the World Customs Organization and the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, and together they set concrete goals and agreed to
exchange information and take legislative measures in order to
stop the smuggling of cultural objects and hence the financing
of extremism - something which the UN Security Council wants to
achieve with its Resolution 2199 of February 2015.

A few days ago Bokova met with the Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda. It has been two
years since the Prosecutor and UNESCO began cooperating in the
criminal prosecution of the destruction of tombs and mosques in
Mali. Bensouda is expected shortly to make concrete demands to
the International Criminal Court, Bokova said.

She also recalled that a week ago she visited Baghdad, where she
urged the students at the University of Baghdad to join a major
campaign. She said it is very important to change the language
used by extremists to justify their destructive activities.

Bokova expressed hope that an upcoming exhibition of Thracian
art from Bulgaria in the Louvre Museum in Paris will present
Bulgaria as a nation of ancient tradition and culture and will
arouse the curiosity of the French people and other visitors to
the museum.