My thanks to Chuck Jones for being the only person on the list to attempt to
answer the original question that was posted regarding this subject ie -
what are the legal ramifications of a museum accepting items brought back
from Iraq.
I suspect that there will be very little material being brought back by
individuals, most material being brought back will be at the regimental or
corps level and not by individuals. The material brought back by a regiment
or corps will most likely wind up in their regimental museum. If the person
who originally started this thread is concerned about what their museum's
legal implications are, he/she should talk to someone at the local military
base (either someone at the base museum if they have one or someone in the
military police offices).
As with the US, the British and Canadian Forces do not encourage the
personal acquisition of Booty. In fact there was a news story recently about
a scottish regimental museum's display of part of a statue (the head of
Saddam) which was brought back from Iraq. As that news story pointed out it
was the British Armed Forces which brought back "booty" and them made it
available to the military/regimental museum in Great Britain.
Here in Canada, according the web site for our armed forces the definition
of "Booty of war" is
Booty of war is all enemy public movable property captured or found on a
battlefield. It becomes the property of the capturing state (ie the US,
Canada, Great Britain etc). Booty includes all articles captured with
prisoners of war, other than their personal property.
ENEMY PRIVATE PROPERTY
Enemy private movable property, other than arms and military papers captured
or found on a
battlefield, may be appropriated only to the extent such taking is
permissible in an occupied area. For further details, refer to Section 6 of
Chapter 12 (Rights and Duties of Occupying Powers).
Again, thanks to Chuck Jones for bring this thread back on topic.
Carol Reid
Collections Manager, Archives
Canadian War Museum
330 Sussex Drive,
Ottawa, ON, Canada,
K1A 0M8
www.warmuseum.ca
tel: (819) 776-8661
fax: (819)776-8657
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 17:19:04 -0500
From: "Charles E. Jones" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Iraq donations
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In the absence of any recent revision of Iraqi law, the Antiquities
Law of 1936 with amending laws of 1974 and 1975, appears to be in
effect at the present time.
The law protects all "Movable and Immovable possessions which were
erected, made, produced, sculptured. written, drawn or photographed
by man, if they are two hundred years old or more." and "...the
movable and immovable possessions, which are less than two hundred
years old, if the public interest requires its protection due to its
historical, national, religious or artistic value. " Since 1924 (i.e.
the time of the British Mandate) all such antiquities have been
deemed to be the property of the State. The law requires the
protection of and respect of all immovable antiquities, prohibits the
private acquisition of movable antiquities or their export without
government authority.
You can find the law on-line at a variety of places, including:
http://www.developmentgateway.org/topic/redir?item_id=306991&url=%2fdownload
%2f181162%2fIraq-Antiquities-Law%2ertf%
The CPA and other US government agencies seem to be acting under the
terms of this law. An export license, for example, was issued to
allow the removal of Iraqi Jewish Archive
(http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/IraqiJewishArchiveReport.htm)
last Summer to the National Archives & Records Administration.
A number of legislative efforts are underway in the US and elsewhere
aimed at preventing the importation into the United States of
cultural materials that have been illegally removed from Iraq since
August 1990:
https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/iraqcrisis/2004-March/000583.html
Those interested in these matters are invites to join IraqCrisis: A
moderated list for communicating substantive information on cultural
property damaged, destroyed or lost from Libraries and Museums in
Iraq during and after the war in April 2003, and on the worldwide
response to the crisis.
https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/iraqcrisis
Other useful resources:
Middle East Librarians Association Committee on Iraqi Libraries
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/melairaq.html
The Oriental Institute's Iraq Working Group
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/iraq.html
Francis Deblauwe's "The 2003 Iraq War & Archaeology"
http://cctr.umkc.edu/user/fdeblauwe/iraq.html
Yours,
-Chuck Jones-
--
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Charles Ellwood Jones
Research Associate - Bibliographer
The Oriental Institute - Chicago
1155 E. 58th St. Chicago IL 60637-1569
USA
Voice (773) 702-9537 Fax (773) 702-9853
[log in to unmask]
http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/Research_Arch.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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