S21 LAW AND POLICY IN HERITAGE MANAGEMENT: PERSPECTIVES IN ETHICS AND REPATRIATION
19 June 2019, Ballroom 1, 0830-1000 hours
Convener:Steven Gallagher (stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk) and Kathleen Tantuico (kdtantuico@gmail.com)
Southeast Asia is a region known to have been under centuries of colonial rule at certain time periods in almost all of their nations' history. This has eventually led to this region's diverse and extensive pre-colonial and colonial cultural heritage.
Over the last 30 years, the international community, regional and professional bodies, and individual states in the region have announced policies, adopted ethical guidelines and enacted laws intended to regulate the practice of archaeology, manage and protect cultural heritage, encourage sustainability in associated practices, which include the repatriation of cultural property looted and trafficked during colonial times and continuing to the present day.
This session will include papers which consider aspects of law and policy that provide for perspectives in ethics and sustainability in the management and protection of heritage. These include issues and current developments in the repatriation of colonial cultural property.
Steven Brian Gallagher
The Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk
In the last 70 years the international community has embraced the concept of cultural heritage in six conventions. Originally developed as part of the international reaction to the destruction and loss suffered by many during the Second World War and focusing on “cultural property” (Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1954), international heritage law developed to consider the looting and trafficking of cultural property in peacetime (Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 1970). Although the concept of cultural heritage was first used in the title of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972, the international community did not further legislate for it protection until the failures of existing law were addressed by the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects 1995. Subsequently treasure hunting from the seas, including the great porcelain treasures of Southeast Asia, and the loss of other forms of heritage, which have always been particularly respected and treasured in Asia, inspired the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, 2001, and the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003, respectively. These six conventions included provision prohibiting the looting, illicit trading and trafficking of cultural heritage and mandated cooperation by all parties to prevent this or effect its return– most recently expressed as cooperation in the safeguarding of heritage for all.
This paper considers the effectiveness of international law to protect heritage in Asia in the last 70 years, referring to high profile cases including the return of the Kapoor Kushan Buddha and the disputed remains of a mummified monk encased in a Buddha statue.
Damien Huffer
Department of Archaeology & Classical Studies, Stockholm University
damien.huffer@ofl.su.se
Today’s digital and social media saturated world has created an almost unregulated traffic in numerous categories of cultural heritage, including human remains both recently looted and circulating between collections and museums for decades, with or without documentation. It is now increasingly apparent that human remains, like antiquities, move from Southeast Asia to global markets by a variety of means, sometimes in conjunction with other forms of illicit traffic such as wildlife. Regional or global cultural property legislation specifically addressing the private collection, import and export of human remains is patchwork, where it exists at all. To aid in the generation of the data needed to effect legal reform or justify new legislation, as well as raise public awareness, this presentation will present and discuss several recent case studies of human remains trafficking within and from Southeast Asia; what is known about the case, its outcome, and why prosecution was or was not possible. It will contextualize these cases through a short overview of current relevant legislation in the ‘source’ countries where the selected case studies began. Finally, it will present a summary of targeted ‘scrapes’ of public, anonymized, Instagram and Facebook profiles – key platforms on which human remains trafficking occurs today. Focusing on Southeast Asia relevant hashtags in English and local languages, the data presented is the first step in future efforts to investigate regional collecting and trafficking using digital humanities and machine learning methods.
Kathleen Tantuico
Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology
University of the Philippines College of Law
kdtantuico@gmail.com
The Balangiga Bells, which were removed from the Philippines in the early 1900s, were returned by the United States to the Philippines last December, more than a century after they were on display as veterans’ memorial objects in U.S. Military bases. The return was facilitated through the amendment of existing American legislation that prevented the transfer of veterans’ memorial objects to other territories a year after the current Philippine President called for their return in his second State of the Nation Address. Legislation as a means to facilitate the repatriation of cultural materials is an underexplored topic in Southeast Asia, since other means of dispute resolution involve arbitration and treaty-making processes. This paper will discuss the legal history that preceded the return of the Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines. It will analyze how legislation, political will, and persistent advocacy can be used for the transfer of war-related materials. It will present perspectives on the legal ownership of the Bells at the standpoint of different stakeholders. It will also explore general frameworks in International Law that are applicable for the repatriation of colonial materials for succession states such as the Philippines and other states in Southeast Asia.
Natali Pearson
Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney
Natali.pearson@sydney.edu.au
Associate Professor Steven Gallagher
Associate Professor of Practice in Law and Associate
Dean of Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong
stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk
From looted sculptures to stolen shipwrecks, the industrial scale of the illicit trade in Southeast Asia’s heritage has been matched in recent years only by the attention such activities have received from governments, scholars and the public. Some Southeast Asian states have updated or introduced legislation to protect heritage within their borders. But these efforts have proven to be inadequate in stemming the illegal flow of heritage objects within and beyond the region. Stepping away from archaeological valuations of heritage objects, this paper instead frames such objects primarily as modern-day commodities. This approach enables broader consideration of alternative measures to protect and preserve Southeast Asia’s cultural heritage, in particular the extent to which basic anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) legislation can be applied effectively to crimes against heritage in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. This paper argues that the nature of AML/CTF legislation, widely implemented around the world, could be used in the absence of – or even together with – effective heritage legislation to target traffickers, dealers and collectors in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Convener:Steven Gallagher (stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk) and Kathleen Tantuico (kdtantuico@gmail.com)
Southeast Asia is a region known to have been under centuries of colonial rule at certain time periods in almost all of their nations' history. This has eventually led to this region's diverse and extensive pre-colonial and colonial cultural heritage.
Over the last 30 years, the international community, regional and professional bodies, and individual states in the region have announced policies, adopted ethical guidelines and enacted laws intended to regulate the practice of archaeology, manage and protect cultural heritage, encourage sustainability in associated practices, which include the repatriation of cultural property looted and trafficked during colonial times and continuing to the present day.
This session will include papers which consider aspects of law and policy that provide for perspectives in ethics and sustainability in the management and protection of heritage. These include issues and current developments in the repatriation of colonial cultural property.
Is international Law Protecting Asia’s Cultural Heritage?
Steven Brian Gallagher
The Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk
In the last 70 years the international community has embraced the concept of cultural heritage in six conventions. Originally developed as part of the international reaction to the destruction and loss suffered by many during the Second World War and focusing on “cultural property” (Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1954), international heritage law developed to consider the looting and trafficking of cultural property in peacetime (Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 1970). Although the concept of cultural heritage was first used in the title of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972, the international community did not further legislate for it protection until the failures of existing law were addressed by the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects 1995. Subsequently treasure hunting from the seas, including the great porcelain treasures of Southeast Asia, and the loss of other forms of heritage, which have always been particularly respected and treasured in Asia, inspired the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, 2001, and the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003, respectively. These six conventions included provision prohibiting the looting, illicit trading and trafficking of cultural heritage and mandated cooperation by all parties to prevent this or effect its return– most recently expressed as cooperation in the safeguarding of heritage for all.
This paper considers the effectiveness of international law to protect heritage in Asia in the last 70 years, referring to high profile cases including the return of the Kapoor Kushan Buddha and the disputed remains of a mummified monk encased in a Buddha statue.
Trafficking the Dead in and from Southeast Asia: Recent Case Studies and Legal Context
Damien Huffer
Department of Archaeology & Classical Studies, Stockholm University
damien.huffer@ofl.su.se
Today’s digital and social media saturated world has created an almost unregulated traffic in numerous categories of cultural heritage, including human remains both recently looted and circulating between collections and museums for decades, with or without documentation. It is now increasingly apparent that human remains, like antiquities, move from Southeast Asia to global markets by a variety of means, sometimes in conjunction with other forms of illicit traffic such as wildlife. Regional or global cultural property legislation specifically addressing the private collection, import and export of human remains is patchwork, where it exists at all. To aid in the generation of the data needed to effect legal reform or justify new legislation, as well as raise public awareness, this presentation will present and discuss several recent case studies of human remains trafficking within and from Southeast Asia; what is known about the case, its outcome, and why prosecution was or was not possible. It will contextualize these cases through a short overview of current relevant legislation in the ‘source’ countries where the selected case studies began. Finally, it will present a summary of targeted ‘scrapes’ of public, anonymized, Instagram and Facebook profiles – key platforms on which human remains trafficking occurs today. Focusing on Southeast Asia relevant hashtags in English and local languages, the data presented is the first step in future efforts to investigate regional collecting and trafficking using digital humanities and machine learning methods.
The Return of the Balangiga Bells: Legislation and Repatriation for Succession States in Southeast Asia
Kathleen Tantuico
Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology
University of the Philippines College of Law
kdtantuico@gmail.com
The Balangiga Bells, which were removed from the Philippines in the early 1900s, were returned by the United States to the Philippines last December, more than a century after they were on display as veterans’ memorial objects in U.S. Military bases. The return was facilitated through the amendment of existing American legislation that prevented the transfer of veterans’ memorial objects to other territories a year after the current Philippine President called for their return in his second State of the Nation Address. Legislation as a means to facilitate the repatriation of cultural materials is an underexplored topic in Southeast Asia, since other means of dispute resolution involve arbitration and treaty-making processes. This paper will discuss the legal history that preceded the return of the Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines. It will analyze how legislation, political will, and persistent advocacy can be used for the transfer of war-related materials. It will present perspectives on the legal ownership of the Bells at the standpoint of different stakeholders. It will also explore general frameworks in International Law that are applicable for the repatriation of colonial materials for succession states such as the Philippines and other states in Southeast Asia.
Unconventional means: using anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing to safeguard Southeast Asia’s cultural heritage
Natali Pearson
Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney
Natali.pearson@sydney.edu.au
Associate Professor Steven Gallagher
Associate Professor of Practice in Law and Associate
Dean of Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong
stevegallagher@cuhk.edu.hk
From looted sculptures to stolen shipwrecks, the industrial scale of the illicit trade in Southeast Asia’s heritage has been matched in recent years only by the attention such activities have received from governments, scholars and the public. Some Southeast Asian states have updated or introduced legislation to protect heritage within their borders. But these efforts have proven to be inadequate in stemming the illegal flow of heritage objects within and beyond the region. Stepping away from archaeological valuations of heritage objects, this paper instead frames such objects primarily as modern-day commodities. This approach enables broader consideration of alternative measures to protect and preserve Southeast Asia’s cultural heritage, in particular the extent to which basic anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) legislation can be applied effectively to crimes against heritage in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. This paper argues that the nature of AML/CTF legislation, widely implemented around the world, could be used in the absence of – or even together with – effective heritage legislation to target traffickers, dealers and collectors in Southeast Asia and beyond.
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