The Cultural Property Advisory Committee will meet July 19-20 to review Libya’s request for U.S. import restrictions on Libyan archaeological and ethnological material. The Committee invites public comment on the request. The public may participate in the virtual open session of the meeting on July 19 from 1 to 2 pm EDT.

Libya’s Request

The Government of Libya has requested U.S. import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material from Libya representing its prehistoric through Ottoman Era heritage. This request was submitted pursuant to Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property as implemented by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (the CPIA).

A public summary of the request includes background information, evidence of jeopardy to the cultural patrimony of Libya from pillage, an outline of measures consistent with the 1970 UNESCO Convention that Libya has taken to protect its patrimony, information about the U.S. and international markets for Libyan cultural property, and a description of the benefit to the international community that import restrictions would enable.

The Review Process

The State Department will decide whether to enter into a bilateral agreement that creates U.S. import restrictions based on four determinations. If a specific emergency condition exists, the Department may also impose emergency import restrictions. Before making a decision, the Department will consider the findings and recommendations of the Committee.

Comment on the Request

Comments should focus on the four determinations. All comments must be submitted in writing by July 10. Use http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket DOS-2017-0028, and follow the prompts to submit written comments.

Participate in the Virtual Open Session

The virtual open session of the Committee meeting will be held on July 19 from 1 to 2 pm EDT using Zoom, a web conferencing service. Anyone may participate. If you are new to Zoom, these tips will help you get started.

To make an oral presentation
If you wish to make oral comments during the virtual open session, you must submit written comments via Regulations.gov by July 10 (as described above). In addition, you must pre-register by phone, (202) 632-6301, or email: CulProp@state.gov by June 10. After you pre-register, you will be provided with instructions on how to participate as a presenter.

To observe
Anyone can observe. It is not necessary to pre-register. The webinar will include a chat space for conversation among observers. The chat space will not be monitored by the Committee and will not be incorporated into the record of the meeting.

To join as an observer:
Click the link to join the webinar: https://zoom.us/j/968721886
Or Telephone:
    Dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) or +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll)
    Webinar ID: 968 721 886
    International numbers available: https://zoom.us/zoomconference?m=_5EIME99NrLjmmoIDUMb_cEDscejOeFL

https://share.america.gov/u-s-returns-lost-royal-treasures-of-korea/ 

Priceless treasures from Korea’s Joseon Dynasty are on a journey home, after the U.S. government returned two royal seals to dignitaries from the Republic of Korea during a June 30 ceremony in Washington.

The event was part of President Moon Jae-in’s four-day visit to the U.S. that included talks at the White House with President Trump.

“I am convinced that the royal seal of Queen Munjeong will be a symbol of the promise of friendship between the United States and Korea, and the friendship between President Trump and President Moon,” said An Min-suk, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

The Joseon Dynasty, which ruled in Korea from 1392 to 1910, crafted approximately 366 seals to stamp royal approval on documents. The seals represented the king’s power and authority.

During the Korean War in the early 1950s, 47 Joseon Dynasty seals were lost. But two of them ended up in Los Angeles. One, a bronze, turtle-topped stamp covered in gold, dates back to 1547. Carvers made it to commemorate a royal ritual for the deceased Queen Munjeong.

The other, carved from jade, is known as the King’s Seal. It dates back to approximately 1651 and was made to celebrate the future king Hyeonjong becoming crown prince.

The U.S. government has been looking to return these seals to Korea for a long time. In the 1950s, a State Department cultural affairs officer recorded the request of the Korean ambassador to seek the missing seals. In 2013, U.S.-Korea cooperation bore fruit when the Queen’s Seal was discovered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And after the Korean Broadcasting Service discovered the collector who had sold the Queen’s Seal to the museum, it also found the King’s Seal at his house.

Since then, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations branch has been investigating. Working with Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration, agents and lawyers conducted the legal steps necessary to return the seals to Korea. Homeland Security Investigations is a member of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force.

“Throughout the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, many of our cultural assets have been lost,” said an official at Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. “The restoration of the Royal Seal of Queen Munjeong and the Royal Seal of King Hyeonjong is of great significance.”

Since 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has helped return more than 8,000 priceless objects to more than 30 countries. That includes dinosaur bones to Mongolia, paintings to European countries, pottery to Peru and a mummy’s hand to Egypt.

Thomas Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the theft and trafficking of a country’s national treasures is one of the oldest forms of organized transnational crime.

He said ICE was proud to return the royal seals to the people of Korea.

“While we recognize that cultural property, art and antiquities are often assigned a dollar value in the marketplace, the cultural and symbolic worth of these Korean treasures far surpasses any monetary value to the people of Korea.”

People will now see the Seals of the King and Queen at the National Palace Museum of Korea, in central Seoul.

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force

Homeland Security Investigations is a member of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF). Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat antiquities trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 95 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

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A few weeks ago, three Romanians were arrested in Jamaica for credit card fraud. At the time of the arrest, Jamaican police official Kevin Francis was on an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in New York focusing on “Combating Transnational Crime: Global Cooperation,” Kevin sketched out the details of the case for a co-participant at the summit, Alex Arghir, a Romanian judge and president of the Bucharest Sector 2 First Instance Court. Alex told Kevin the suspects were “well-known scammers.”

“We are now planning to do further collaborations,” said Kevin. “We will definitely be working together.”

“Combating International Crime: Global Cooperation,” organized by the State Department in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), brings more than 70 judicial, law enforcement, and security officials to New York City annually to explore the structure of the U.S. criminal justice system and U.S. responses to a range of threats. It is the culmination of a three-week professional exchange with participants from across the globe as part of the “Towards a More Safe and Secure World” initiative. Linda Piccirilli and Chris Halecki, program officers at the State Department’s New York Program Branch, created this law enforcement summit more than a decade ago so that disparate security sector professionals could come together to build lasting relationships – the foundations of both our diplomacy and, increasingly, our safety. Without exchange programs like this one, Kevin and Alex would never have met, and on your next trip to Jamaica, you could well have been the victim of a Romanian credit card scam.

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The real-world benefit to the United States is the personal connections that our security professionals form with their international counterparts, leading to collaborations on intelligence gathering, cyber-security challenges, and law enforcement training, which in turn bring better results in countering violent extremism, protecting our borders, and bringing international criminals to justice.

Iain Bailey, a detective with the Metropolitan Police Service of the United Kingdom’s New Scotland Yard, put it succinctly: “Intelligence is only good when it’s hot. And personal connections are the life blood of investigations.”

“I thought I had quite a bit of knowledge [about the U.S.], but after three weeks in the country, I realized how small that was,” said Iain. “Before I came, we had been looking to bring economic sanctions against some key criminal figures. Now, I am going to send my management team to meet with their U.S. counterparts to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. This is a tangible result: we are working together to stop criminals.”

Bureaucracy is rarely glamorous. And State Department international exchange programs don’t often make splashy headlines. But on a daily basis, the program officers who work on these exchanges create opportunities, facilitate connections, and solve international problems. So, when you hear on the news about an international crime bust, or the next time you go on a vacation abroad and return without incident, keep in mind that an exchange program may well have played a role.

Each year, approximately 5,000 current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields travel to the United States on the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) to cultivate professional networks with their American counterparts. Selected alumni are invited to return to the United States to participate in citizen diplomacy summits in American cities and to explain how their IVLP experience impacted the work they do today in their local communities.

Earlier this month, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth welcomed IVLP alumna Riham Awad to Dallas, Texas. After her life-changing experience on the 2012 IVLP, A New Beginning: Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Riham Awad started a volunteer mentor program that is creating a wave of young entrepreneurs in Egypt. She now partners with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to organize an annual employment fair that offers thousands of job opportunities for other U.S. State Department program alumni and the Egyptian public.

In Dallas, Riham reunited with Americans she met in 2012 and updated them on the continuing impact that their shared experience is having abroad. She then travelled to San Diego before heading to Kansas City, Missouri for a Diplomacy Begins Here Summit.

Join the conversation on social media using #IAmDiplomacy. For press inquiries in Dallas, contact Elaine Tricoli, World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, (214) 965-8403. For inquiries on the International Visitor Leadership Program, contact ECA-Press@state.gov. 

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Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Mara Tekach with items being repatriated to Peru

This week, the United States and Peru will extend their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue import restrictions on archaeological and certain Colonial period material from all areas of Peru. Originally signed in 1997, the MOU and associated import restrictions will be extended for an additional five years and will include Colonial period documents and manuscripts for the first time. This extension will allow U.S. law enforcement to continue combatting the trafficking of Peruvian antiquities.

Over the years the United States and Peru have worked closely to ensure that looted and stolen items are returned to the rightful owners, in fact, the United States has repatriated over 2,000 items to Peru.  As an example, on June 6, the U.S. government repatriated to the Embassy of Peru in Washington, D.C. about 75 archaeological items and one Spanish colonial painting obtained in raids. Next week in Lima, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will open an exhibition celebrating all of the repatriations that have taken place over the life of the MOU.

"The FBI has the honor of repatriating these artifacts of significant cultural importance to the Peruvian people,” said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Timothy Carpenter. “This repatriation represents our commitment to protecting and preserving the integrity of cultural history, whether it be here in the U.S. or abroad, and to working with our partners across the globe to make sure stolen and looted artifacts recovered in the U.S. are returned to their rightful home."

“Combating transnational crime is a top priority for the United States in Latin America.  We at the Department of State also work to enforce the rule of law in these cases.  Moreover, for us, like everyone here today, there are more than legal implications.  There are significant moral, historical and scientific implications, as well,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Mara Tekach.

Under the latest extension, the United States and Peru have agreed to work tougher on several areas including:

• To encourage academic institutions, NGOs, and other organizations to preserve and protect Peruvian cultural patrimony with technical assistance, expertise and resources.
• For the Government of Peru to expand opportunities for international exchange of cultural items, streamline the process for approval of applications for temporary export, and consider allowing longer-term loans to museums and academic institutions to develop educational programming.
• For the U.S. government to facilitate provisions of technical assistance in cultural resource management.

Read more about the history of this MOU and how the United States and Peru began protecting cultural property in the region here.

https://share.america.gov/restoring-ancient-sites-damaged-by-isis/

As ISIS is driven back from conquests in northern Iraq and Syria, a challenge looms: cataloging the damage to cultural sites and treasures from antiquity, repairing what can be fixed, and figuring out how to let people see them again.

The U.S. Smithsonian Institution, with support from the State Department, is dispatching a team to Erbil, Iraq, to work with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage on a rapid assessment of damage to Nimrud, capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the ninth century B.C.E.

They will help Iraqi counterparts forge a long-range plan for salvaging and safely rehousing damaged objects and stabilizing stone reliefs of mythological creatures and other figures carved into the palace walls.

After overrunning the site, which is 30 kilometers from Mosul, ISIS blew up the Assyrian palace of King Ashurnasirpal II in 2015, capturing the destruction in a propaganda video. Fighters broke walls with a bulldozer and jackhammers and toppled artifacts by hand.

Jessica Johnson, head of conservation at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, likens the assessment and mapping out of recovery plans to what happens after an earthquake. “The methodology is basically the same,” Johnson said. “We teach people how to go in after a disaster, man-made or natural, and stabilize and recover cultural heritage so when it’s time to think about rebuilding, you’ve preserved as much as possible.”

Notwithstanding the devastation, there may be more to recover than people think. “I’ve heard estimates that 50 percent of the sculpture material is left,” she said.

Archaeologists discovered the site in the mid-19th century and were still finding new treasures beneath its mounds in recent times.

“What ISIS has sought to destroy, we are determined to set right,” said Mark Taplin, who leads the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department. The bureau’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force awarded $400,000 to the Smithsonian for the preliminary work.

Apart from sheer destruction, ISIS has profited from looting and black-market sales of antiquities. In Nimrud, Nineveh and other heritage sites, looting remains a threat, as do vandalism and exposure to the elements.

“The idea is to help the Iraqis create a team and cadre of people who can go out and start the process of assessing, stabilizing and ultimately restoring places,” said Andrew Cohen of the State Department’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force.

American Schools of Oriental Research recently received $900,000 to further its conservation work in Iraq, Syria and, for the first time, Libya. Since 2014, the scholarly organization has inventoried 13,000 sites.

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force

The Smithsonian Institution is a partner of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF). Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat antiquities trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 95 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

On May 11, 2017, the  Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB) held its 275th Quarterly Board Meeting at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The FFSB heard from Fulbright Program Advisors from Georgetown University, Howard University, and the United States Naval Academy who shared their experiences and strategies to promote the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and provide guidance on the application process to interested students. The Board also heard from two Fulbright Foreign Students and a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and Indonesia, who discussed the Fulbright Program's impact in helping them to achieve their career goals and make a positive impact in their respective fields: medicine, education, and national security law.  

The Board Members also approved two changes to the policies governing the Fulbright Program. 

1. Fulbright Specialist Program

The Board determined that the two-year waiting period between grants does not apply to recipients of the Fulbright Specialist Program grant, adding the following language to FFSB policy section 624.2:

Recipients of a Fulbright Specialist Program grant are not required to adhere to the two-year waiting period before applying for a Fulbright Scholar grant.  Likewise, recipients of a Fulbright Scholar grant are not required to adhere to the two-year waiting period before applying for a Fulbright Specialist Program grant.

2. Terminology Change for Fulbright Alumni

The Board also approved a proposal to substitute the word “alumni” for all references in the FFSB policies to “former grantees,” “former Fulbright grantees,” and “former American grantees.”  The change reflects a decision to cease using “former grantee” or “former Fulbrighter” in practice and in the outreach activities of the Board and the program.

(Note: See changes in Sections 132.4, 144, 361.4 and 660 of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Policies.)

Appointed by the President of the United States, the 12-member Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board oversees, sets policies, and approves the applications for the Fulbright Program as authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961.

This month, the University of Arizona and Kabul University launched an online training course on cultural heritage site preservation and management, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and the National Parks Service. The strategic goal is to enhance Afghanistan’s capacity to protect its heritage and better defend itself against cultural property looting and trafficking.

This project brings together the Afghan government, university professors, and cultural heritage professionals, in an effort to expand the training available to students. Students who take the course will gain a deeper understanding of cultural heritage, as well as explore ways to preserve and protect the country’s rich heritage. Instruction will be through live broadcasts and via course materials that can be downloaded and accessed remotely.

The project will also provide an opportunity for Kabul University faculty and Afghan cultural heritage professionals to meet their professional counterparts across the globe through online interactions, facilitating professional networks of cultural heritage professionals.

The University of Arizona is assisting the Afghanistan Government’s Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Information and Culture, providing support for online distance-learning educational programs. Since 2006, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the National Park Service have engaged multiple stakeholders in cultural conservation efforts in Afghanistan. The State Department and the National Park Service continue their support for cultural heritage preservation in Afghanistan, including historic and archaeological sites, objects, and other heritage resources.