CoE to fight traffic in 'blood antiquities'

The Council of Europe (CoE) announced Wednesday it was stepping up the fight against so-called "blood antiquities."

The Strasbourg-based body is preparing a new criminal law convention to combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property. This form of trafficking is increasingly exploited by terrorist groups, notably Islamic State (IS), and is linked to international cross-border organized crime.

In Iraq and Syria, ancient sites and museums have been pillaged and destroyed by IS which has then sold some of the antiquities on the black market. Trafficking in cultural property is "a highly clandestine crime and a source for money laundering affecting all European countries," the CoE believes.

"The terrible destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the ruins of Nimrud in Iraq have highlighted the concern for blood antiquities," said CoE secretary general Thorbjorn Jagland. "This convention will be the first international legal instrument to fight illegal trade in the art market. It will help states combat this criminal phenomenon effectively though a joint action at the pan-European level."

The new convention, which should be ready next year, will be in the form of a treaty open to signature by European countries and others outside Europe. It will replace the 1985 European convention on offences relating to cultural property (known as the Delphi Convention).

The initiative aims to criminalize the illicit destruction and trafficking of cultural property and foster co-operation between states. Endit