The theft and redemption of history.

* Gold Mycenaean jewelry RESTORED to Greece

* Pre-Columbian artifacts RETURN to Ecuador

* Cambodia RECLAIMS two 'missing' objects

A collection of over 12,000 pre-Columbian objects was returned in 1983 to Ecuador from Italy a litigation lasting several years. They had been illegally exported from Ecuador and brought to Italy in 1975. Following their import to Italy, the public prosecutor in Genoa had sequestrated them at the request of Ecuador. During the litigation, they were deposited with the Federico Lunardi Museum in Genoa. Finally, in January 1983, the Turin Magistrature ordered the return oft he collection to the Ecuadorean consul in Turin.

Each day, journals and newspapers all over the world publish articles on the theft of cultural objects in museum and galleries, unscrupulous traffickers in artifacts looted during clandestine excavations, and adventurers pillaging ancient ship-wrecks. The scourge of illicit traffic in cultural property affects all regions of the world and usually wealthy countries, as much as poor ones.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as the United Nations agency responsible for the conservation and protection of the world's work of art and monuments of history and science, is very much concerned with this situation. In 1970, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This Convention was, until 1995, the only worldwide international agreement aimed at curbing illicit trafficking and export of cultural property (currently 87 States are Parties to it).

In 1995, the Diplomatic Conference in Rome adopted the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (not yet entered into force). This instrument was drafted at the request and with the close cooperation of UNESCO to complement the Convention, with provision on private law concerning illicit traffic.

In implementing the 1970 Convention, the Secretariat of UNESCO undertakes various activities. It publishes, upon request from the States Parties to the Convention, notices of stolen cultural property, containing descriptions and photographs of stolen objects, contact addresses and other relevant information on the theft. Such notices are widely distributed to the States Parties to the Convention and other concerned bodies. Since 1986, 30 notices have been published.

The Secretariat also assists in drafting national legislation on the protection of cultural heritage. As an example, legislation drafted with the assistance of a UNESCO consultant was adopted in Cambodia in December 1995.

It should be pointed out that these Conventions are not retroactive and do not cover the removal of cultural objects during the colonial period. There are also other cases in which the removal of cultural property occurred before the entry into force for any of the States concerned.

When a State wishes to recover cultural property not falling under the 1970 Convention or any other agreement in force, it may enter into bilateral negotiations with the State where this property is located. In some cases, such negotiations succeed; in others, they fail. What can be done if negotiations have not brought about a satisfactory solution? In this case, the State can use the services of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin and its Restitution in Case of illicit Appropriation, set up by UNESCO's General Conference in 1987. In fact, the creation of the 22-Member State Committee was inspired by the plight of the former colonial countries to obtain from their colonial Powers the return of at least some cultural property taken away during the colonial period, and by the 1987 appeal of former Director-General of UNESCO, Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow - a Plea for the Return of an Irreplaceable Cultural Heritage to Those Who Created It. This appeal called upon UNESCO Member States "to conclude bilateral agreements for the return of cultural property to the countries from which it has been taken" and "to ratify and rigorously enforce the Convention giving them effective means to prevent illicit trading in artistic and archaeological objects". The Committee mainly serves as a negotiating forum aimed at assisting Member States to resolve claims for the restitution or return of cultural property. It may only mediate and recommend. It is not an international judicial body and may not enforce its recommendations.

The Committee also encourages technical cooperation, training activities, exchange of information on legal and other aspects of the fight against illicit traffic in cultural property and raises public awareness of the problem.

Some other cases of restitution within the Committee included the exchange of artifacts between museums in Jordan and the United States, and the return of over 7,000 cuneiform tablets from the German Democratic Republic to Turkey.

In October 1983, the Minister of Education of Jordan submitted a request to the Intergovernmental Committee for the return of the "Sandstone Panel Of Tyche with the Zodiac", held by the Cincinnati Art Museum, in Ohio, United States. This panel was the upper part of a Nabatean sandstone relief, of which the lower part was kept in the Archaeological Museum in Amman. Following the submission of this request, negotiations between parties took place. In the meantime, the Secretary-General of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) contacted the Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and offered good offices. Finally, the Secretariat was informed in July 1986 that a common agreement was reached between the Museum and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan on the exchange of plaster casts, parts held by each of them.

The case of the return of over 7,000 cuneiform tablets dating from the second millennium B.C. from Turkey to the former German Democratic Republic was different. These tablets were sent to the "Staatliche Museen" in Berlin for conservation treatment in 1917. However, they were not subsequently returned. The Turkish Directorate-General of Museum and Antiquities began bilateral negotiations for the return of those artifacts with the holding country at the beginning of the eighties. Those negotiations resulted in the return of artifacts in October and November 1987.

Other cases are still pending: the well-known case of the Parthenon Marbles held presently in the British Museum, which are claimed by Greece from the United Kingdom; the claim of Turkey against the Federal Republic of Germany related to a sphinx from the Hittite capital at Boghuzkoy; and the claim of the Islamic Republic of Iran against Belgium concerning grave goods from Khorvin (still being litigated in Belgium).

The relatively low workload of the Committee does not mean that States have lost their interest in the return of cultural property. On the contrary, there was a number of cases in which the return took place without the Committee's actual participation. The Committee has undoubtedly changed the atmosphere by stressing goodwill and the spirit of international cooperation, instead of the lack of dialogue. At every session, other cases of voluntary return are reported to the Committee.

Given the growing interest of the world community in the scale of illicit traffic in cultural property and other related issues, it is likely that the importance of the 1970 and 1995 Conventions and that of the Committee will grow.

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In a ceremony that took place on 30 January 1997, gold Mycenaean jewelry that had been illegally exported from Greece was of tidally returned to its country of origin. The 3,500-year-old jewelry had been placed on sale in 1993 by a New York gallery, but after the Greek Government charged that the items had been illegally taken out of the country, the gallery owner agreed to donate them to the Society for the Preservation of the Greek Heritage, which made the arrangements for repatriation. The 32 pieces in the collection, dating back from the late 15th century B.C., included seal rings, gold clothing ornaments, beads of gold, glass and gemstones and gold necklaces. They will be put on a permanent display at the museum in Nemea, Greece.

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"We want to make the people in the world aware of the illicit traffic of cultural property and the role they can play in preventing this from happening" Sonia Ramzi, UNESCO's Chief of Promoting Cultural Heritage, told the UN Chronicle.

Mrs. Ramzi stressed that UNESCO's role in preventing and prohibiting the illicit import and export of cultural property is not so much as a negotiating forum, but rather as a promoter, to set things in motion and make people aware of their responsibilities. To facilitate the return of cultural property to the countries of origin, UNESCO works in cooperation with Interpol which has contacts with international juridical and political institutions, a worldwide organization of art collectors, universities from around the world, customs authorities and the police. It does so by stressing the importance of returning such goods to the original countries or not importing or exporting these properties in the first place.

"For example, right now a lot of cultural goods are being exported from Eastern Europe, including religious icons which are very popular in Western Europe. UNESCO tries to make people aware of the fact that this is prohibited. And, at this point, universities play a very important role. They teach their students about the different conventions and laws that exist on the prevention and prohibition of illicit import and export of cultural goods", Mrs. Ramzi said. "By doing this, universities can help prevent this illicit traffic, because these young people are the ones who will be working in this field in the future" In most cases, the return of cultural property is not actually done by UNESCO, but the organization has made the people aware of what is happening and what they can do about it, she stressed.

A good example of this role is one of UNESCO's most recent projects: setting up competition between various universities and colleges of art and design all over the world to design a logo for the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import and Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This project was adopted by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, which will launch and organize the competition, while UNESCO will take care of the related lectures and seminars about the Convention, which will be given at different universities and schools. Mrs. Ramzi explained: "By doing this, UNESCO has been able to set up a network between universities which have a department that is related to cultural heritage. And this network has adopted some operational projects of UNESCO. So during this project two goals are accomplished - a lot of young people will be made aware of the Convention and illicit trafficking, and a network is set up by UNESCO that will take care of some operational projects that can be used for future projects."

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After two years of negotiation, two major works of Khmer art were returned to Cambodia by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on 17 March 1997. These two objects were listed among the 100 Missing Objects - Looting in Angkor, published by UNESCO and ICOM. One object was an early 10th century, head of a statue of Shiva, which was removed from the Phnom Krom temple of Angkor between 1972 and 1983, and had been part of the Metropolitan Museum's Southeast Asian Art collection since 1985. The second object was a late 11th century head of a male statue from the Trapeang Chhuk site near Angkor. This last object was returned over to the museum by its owner upon learning of the decision to return the first object.

Since the publication in 1993 of the 100 Missing Objects (revised and updated in 1997), six of the art objects listed have been located, four have been returned, and 16 unlisted Khmer objects have also been returned. The restitution of these objects was in accordance with ethical and legal standards upheld by UNESCO, notably through the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property. In cooperation with ICOM, UNESCO advised Cambodian authorities of their discussions with the Metropolitan Museum.

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On 19 November 1997, the United Nations Postal Administration issued a set of six commemorative stamps and three prestige booklets on the theme "The Terracotta Warriors" in commemoration of the 25th Jubilee of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The World Heritage Convention was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1972 and to date has been signed by more than 145 countries. This international treaty seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world which is considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.

The Convention defines the kind of natural or cultural site which can be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List and sets out the duties of States identifying potential sites and their role in protecting and preserving them. By signing the Convention, and without affecting their sovereignty over the sites, each country pledges not only to conserve the World Heritage sites situated on its territory, but also to protect its national heritage. The application for a site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List must come from the country itself and the application must include a plan detailing how the country plans to manage and protect the site.