Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
No Joy in Cyprus
Whatever happens at the Supreme Court's conference on the ACCG test case this Friday, there will be no joy in Cyprus. Cypriot bank depositors are paying for the bad lending practices of its big banks, including the Bank of Cyprus. But serious questions have been raised about fairness. The little guy and the foreigner (mostly rich Russians) have been singled out while connected bondholders, sovereign debt holders and depositors in Greek operations in Cypriot banks have apparently gotten off the hook. Doesn't such cronyism and shady dealings "all for a good cause" sound all too familiar?
Corruption and the Archaeological Lobby's Models
It's interesting to see where the archaeological lobby's models stack up on Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perception Index: Bulgaria-75; China-80; Cyprus-29; Egypt-118, Greece-94; Italy-72 and Turkey-54.
The higher the number, the higher the perception of corruption. Denmark is No. 1 as the least corrupt country while No.174, Somalia, is perceived as most corrupt.
While Cyprus' rank of 29 would seem at first blush to be fairly good, at least some commentators suggest that Cypriots themselves think their government is more corrupt than Transparency International's experts believe.
It's interesting that these countries also have very restrictive export controls for cultural property. One might suspect that such controls merely provide an opportunity for corrupt officials to profit from the system.
Why does the archaeological lobby continue to see such corrupt systems as models for cultural heritage protection? Or are they somehow suggesting the cultural bureaucracies in these countries are far cleaner than government in general? And, if so, what is their basis for any such claim?
The higher the number, the higher the perception of corruption. Denmark is No. 1 as the least corrupt country while No.174, Somalia, is perceived as most corrupt.
While Cyprus' rank of 29 would seem at first blush to be fairly good, at least some commentators suggest that Cypriots themselves think their government is more corrupt than Transparency International's experts believe.
It's interesting that these countries also have very restrictive export controls for cultural property. One might suspect that such controls merely provide an opportunity for corrupt officials to profit from the system.
Why does the archaeological lobby continue to see such corrupt systems as models for cultural heritage protection? Or are they somehow suggesting the cultural bureaucracies in these countries are far cleaner than government in general? And, if so, what is their basis for any such claim?
I Am Egyptian Antiquities
So says Zahi Hawass, who is apparently even now is planning his return as Egypt�s Antiquities Pharaoh. Never mind the stink of corruption, cronyism, and disdain for ordinary Egyptians. Apparently, some think Egypt�s problems in attracting tourists to a country beset by the prospect of violence can be solved by returning Hawass to his post. Not likely. And one hopes Hawass� hopes for a return are just that.
Hawass Involved in Illegal Scheme to Turn Egyptian Antiquities into Cash?
The Egyptian Government is alleging that former antiquities Pharaoh Zahi Hawass was engaged in a scheme to waste public funds and steal antiquities. See http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/38308/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Indiana-Jones-faces-charges.aspx
It's a bit hard to tell from this article, but it seems that the Egyptian prosecutor is alleging that Hawass and the wife of Egypt's deposed President Mubark were skimming profits from a travelling exhibit and that Hawass was receiving unauthorized payments from the National Geographic Society.
Will the US Justice Department be as aggressive investigating allegations of public corruption potentially involving US archaeologists as it has been in tracking down allegedly stolen Egyptian antiquities?
It's a bit hard to tell from this article, but it seems that the Egyptian prosecutor is alleging that Hawass and the wife of Egypt's deposed President Mubark were skimming profits from a travelling exhibit and that Hawass was receiving unauthorized payments from the National Geographic Society.
Will the US Justice Department be as aggressive investigating allegations of public corruption potentially involving US archaeologists as it has been in tracking down allegedly stolen Egyptian antiquities?
A Useful Diversion?
The archaeo-blogger world is on fire over news of a bust of an alleged antiquities smuggling ring in Greece. See http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-arrested-in-greek-antiquities-bust.html
Yet, it should not be lost on anyone that the alleged ringleader of the smuggling operation is a retired customs official and that municipal workers count amongst his alleged accomplices.
The Greek cultural establishment has been harshly criticised in the wake of thefts from the museum at Olympia. That establishment will no doubt promote these arrests as a diversion from its ongoing funding woes, but this news should not be used as an excuse not to consider a real liberalization of Greece's draconian laws on the subject.
There was never enough money to properly preserve Greece's cultural patrimony even when times were good. Now, there is even less. Yet, the Greek state still insists on claiming title to everything and anything old, even artifacts found on private property.
Greece is certainly entitled to enforce its own laws, but I'm afraid this news will be just another excuse for more of the same rather than a major rethink as to whether Greece's draconian laws really help save the past or only encourage smuggling and public corruption.
Yet, it should not be lost on anyone that the alleged ringleader of the smuggling operation is a retired customs official and that municipal workers count amongst his alleged accomplices.
The Greek cultural establishment has been harshly criticised in the wake of thefts from the museum at Olympia. That establishment will no doubt promote these arrests as a diversion from its ongoing funding woes, but this news should not be used as an excuse not to consider a real liberalization of Greece's draconian laws on the subject.
There was never enough money to properly preserve Greece's cultural patrimony even when times were good. Now, there is even less. Yet, the Greek state still insists on claiming title to everything and anything old, even artifacts found on private property.
Greece is certainly entitled to enforce its own laws, but I'm afraid this news will be just another excuse for more of the same rather than a major rethink as to whether Greece's draconian laws really help save the past or only encourage smuggling and public corruption.
Your tax dollars at work: Fraud, Waste and Abuse at the Iraq Museum
Crusading Western archaeologists successfully lobbied for millions of dollars in US taxpayer money to be spent on Iraqi Archaeology. They further successfully lobbied for emergency import restrictions on Iraqi cultural artifacts based partly on the theory that the Iraq State was the best custodian for everything-- including common artifacts such as coins.
Was this money well spent? Should anything that looks remotely "Iraqi" be repatriated, including common artifacts like coins? Judge for yourself based upon this troubling report:
This is an interesting but distressing note about the coin [collection] in the Iraq Museum, from From Lamia al-Gailani Werr.
In the Museum they are slowly plodding through the inventory, which according to the current pace will take years. Only twenty thousands out of over two hundred thousands objects have been inventoried so far. The staff are facing many challenges, including a number of objects have lost their numbers, or metal objects that have crumbled as a the result of decades of negligence, and in particular the coins collection. Another difficulty is the lack of expertise amongst the staff to enable them to distinguish the fake from the genuine coinage.
In the Iraq Museum Library many of the old and rare archaeological books are crumbling. The Library have no expert staff to conserve the books. This can also be said for the photographic archive were conservation of the earlier photographs is lacking, and the scanning and digitising the photographic archive is not all that perfect. The staff are scanning with a resolution of 75 pixels only, because they have antiquated computers with very little memory and have no resources to purchase CDs / DVDs or USB sticks. The photographic archive rooms had a lucky escape when I was there, they got flooded one morning, the result of a test by the engineering section to check if repairs carried out to the roof had been done properly. They poured a whole tankard�s hold of water on to the roof for this purpose. The water cascaded down like a waterfall through the imperfect repairs and onto the metal cabinets in the stores and archive rooms. The staff rushed and covered everything with nylon sheets. Clearly the contracted builder�s repair was very poorly to say the least, despite a grant of three million US Dollars.
Of course, archaeological groups are again lobbying for additional millions in US taxpayer dollars being spent on Egyptian archaeology. And they have apparently already told the Egyptians that new emergency restrictions on Egyptian cultural artifacts will be imposed.
If anything, with our own budget deficits, now should be the time to scrutinze such requests far more closely.
Was this money well spent? Should anything that looks remotely "Iraqi" be repatriated, including common artifacts like coins? Judge for yourself based upon this troubling report:
This is an interesting but distressing note about the coin [collection] in the Iraq Museum, from From Lamia al-Gailani Werr.
In the Museum they are slowly plodding through the inventory, which according to the current pace will take years. Only twenty thousands out of over two hundred thousands objects have been inventoried so far. The staff are facing many challenges, including a number of objects have lost their numbers, or metal objects that have crumbled as a the result of decades of negligence, and in particular the coins collection. Another difficulty is the lack of expertise amongst the staff to enable them to distinguish the fake from the genuine coinage.
In the Iraq Museum Library many of the old and rare archaeological books are crumbling. The Library have no expert staff to conserve the books. This can also be said for the photographic archive were conservation of the earlier photographs is lacking, and the scanning and digitising the photographic archive is not all that perfect. The staff are scanning with a resolution of 75 pixels only, because they have antiquated computers with very little memory and have no resources to purchase CDs / DVDs or USB sticks. The photographic archive rooms had a lucky escape when I was there, they got flooded one morning, the result of a test by the engineering section to check if repairs carried out to the roof had been done properly. They poured a whole tankard�s hold of water on to the roof for this purpose. The water cascaded down like a waterfall through the imperfect repairs and onto the metal cabinets in the stores and archive rooms. The staff rushed and covered everything with nylon sheets. Clearly the contracted builder�s repair was very poorly to say the least, despite a grant of three million US Dollars.
Of course, archaeological groups are again lobbying for additional millions in US taxpayer dollars being spent on Egyptian archaeology. And they have apparently already told the Egyptians that new emergency restrictions on Egyptian cultural artifacts will be imposed.
If anything, with our own budget deficits, now should be the time to scrutinze such requests far more closely.
Hawass Says Emergency Import Restrictions Coming; Confirms CPAC Process is a Farce
Egyptian Antiquities Pharaoh Zahi Hawass has put up a revealing post on his blog. See http://www.drhawass.com/blog/international-coalition-support-protection-egyptian-antiquities
Some hitherto little known archaeological group (the Capitol Archaeological Institute) as well as the usual suspects (AIA, ASOR, National Geographic) have apparently formed a coalition to conjure up new emergency restrictions on Egyptian cultural goods.
Hawass' report of his discussions with coalition representatives strongly suggests that the statutory requirements of the Cultural Property Implementation Act-- including the requirement of review by CPAC-- are utterly meaningless. In particular, Hawass has been told that the restrictions are a "done deal" and that the archaeological groups will be preparing a MOU on behalf of the U.S. and Egyptian governments that will also throw more US taxpayer money at Egypt's corrupt archaeological establishment.
According to Hawass, "The coalition reported that the US Government is willing to impose emergency restrictions on Egyptian antiquities....The coalition will be drafting a formal agreement between the US and Egyptian governments...."
All this is quite interesting. Doesn't this just confirm what those representing the interests of collectors, the small businesses of the coin and antiquities trades, and museums have long suspected-- that the archaeological lobby really runs the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Cultural Heritage Center and that the CPAC process is a farce?
It�s also worth noting that Hawass long claimed that there was no such "emergency" in Egypt, but he is now apparently changing his tune to accommodate the coalition's efforts to clamp down on US collectors of Egyptian antiquities.
Some hitherto little known archaeological group (the Capitol Archaeological Institute) as well as the usual suspects (AIA, ASOR, National Geographic) have apparently formed a coalition to conjure up new emergency restrictions on Egyptian cultural goods.
Hawass' report of his discussions with coalition representatives strongly suggests that the statutory requirements of the Cultural Property Implementation Act-- including the requirement of review by CPAC-- are utterly meaningless. In particular, Hawass has been told that the restrictions are a "done deal" and that the archaeological groups will be preparing a MOU on behalf of the U.S. and Egyptian governments that will also throw more US taxpayer money at Egypt's corrupt archaeological establishment.
According to Hawass, "The coalition reported that the US Government is willing to impose emergency restrictions on Egyptian antiquities....The coalition will be drafting a formal agreement between the US and Egyptian governments...."
All this is quite interesting. Doesn't this just confirm what those representing the interests of collectors, the small businesses of the coin and antiquities trades, and museums have long suspected-- that the archaeological lobby really runs the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Cultural Heritage Center and that the CPAC process is a farce?
It�s also worth noting that Hawass long claimed that there was no such "emergency" in Egypt, but he is now apparently changing his tune to accommodate the coalition's efforts to clamp down on US collectors of Egyptian antiquities.
Labels:
AIA,
corruption,
CPAC,
CPIA,
double standards,
ECA,
Egypt,
Emrgency Import Restrictions,
Zahi Hawass
He's Back....
Just when we thought he was gone, Zahi Hawass has been reappointed Egyptian Minister of Antiquities. See http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/8906/Egypt/Politics-/Hawass-is-persuaded-back-into-Egypt-Minister-of-An.aspx Presumably the serious allegations of corruption made against the SCA in general and against Hawass personally will now be swept under the rug. More evidence that Egypt's revolution is at best cosmetic. And, no doubt elements within US law enforcement, who have also hitched their own stars to the AIA, to Hawass and their repatriation efforts will also help discourage any US effort to ascertain whether corrupt Egyptian government officials dipped into the millions of dollars the US taxpayer has spent on Egyptian archaeology.
Government Moves on Mummy Mask
In a series of court filings, the US Government has confirmed the Saint Louis Museum of Art's suspicions that it seeks forfeiture of the Ka Nefer Nefer mummy mask as "stolen" Egyptian cultural property. See
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_98d72244-9976-5b8a-a73d-5c211c6a771b.html
One wonders why the Obama Justice Department is so keen on representing the interests of the Egyptian Government (as espoused by repatriation happy former Antiquities Minister Hawass) rather than letting the Egyptians themselves file suit against the museum if they really think they have a valid claim.
Meanwhile, there is no indication that the Obama Justice Department (or anyone else for that matter) is keen on investigating whether the U.S. taxpayer was ripped off by sticky-fingered Egyptian officials with regard to the millions upon millions spent in supporting Egyptian archaeology. See
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/03/egyptian-authorities-investigate-hawass.html
In my opinion, scarce prosecutorial resources should used for that first.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_98d72244-9976-5b8a-a73d-5c211c6a771b.html
One wonders why the Obama Justice Department is so keen on representing the interests of the Egyptian Government (as espoused by repatriation happy former Antiquities Minister Hawass) rather than letting the Egyptians themselves file suit against the museum if they really think they have a valid claim.
Meanwhile, there is no indication that the Obama Justice Department (or anyone else for that matter) is keen on investigating whether the U.S. taxpayer was ripped off by sticky-fingered Egyptian officials with regard to the millions upon millions spent in supporting Egyptian archaeology. See
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/03/egyptian-authorities-investigate-hawass.html
In my opinion, scarce prosecutorial resources should used for that first.
Hawass and the Egyptian Museum Gift Shop
The "Talking Pyramids" blog reports on former Antiquities Minister Hawass' efforts to steer a lucrative contract for the Egyptian Museum book shop to a company for which he was a director. The report details his efforts to undercut a competitor, violation of contracting procedures and refusal to follow a court order. See
http://www.talkingpyramids.com/zahi-hawass-museum-gift-shop/ At a minimum, the report, which admittedly is based on the account of the competitor for the franchise, suggests a troubling conflict of interest.
In any event, all this again suggests to me that US Federal Prosecutors should look into what actually happened to the millions of US tax dollars and franchise fees that were supposed to go to support Egyptian archaeology. If corruption was indeed rampant at the Mubarak era SCA as has been alleged, one has to also conclude it likely that substantial monies intended for archaeology actually were used for private gain.
http://www.talkingpyramids.com/zahi-hawass-museum-gift-shop/ At a minimum, the report, which admittedly is based on the account of the competitor for the franchise, suggests a troubling conflict of interest.
In any event, all this again suggests to me that US Federal Prosecutors should look into what actually happened to the millions of US tax dollars and franchise fees that were supposed to go to support Egyptian archaeology. If corruption was indeed rampant at the Mubarak era SCA as has been alleged, one has to also conclude it likely that substantial monies intended for archaeology actually were used for private gain.
The Uncertain State of Libya's Archaeological Treasures
Libya boasts five UNESCO World Heritage sites with well-preserved Greek, Punic, and Roman architecture. See http://www.unescoworldheritagesites.com/libya-unesco-world-heritage-sites.htm
What reports there are suggest they remain undisturbed for now. See
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/27/us-libya-protests-heritage-idUKTRE71Q0M520110227?pageNumber=1 However, one has to wonder about their fate, particularly if the Qaddafi regime holds on for an extended period of time.
When Libya was an Italian colony, Mussolini lavished money on archaeology; excavations at Roman sites helped buttress his regime's claim to be the heir of ancient Rome. In reaction, Qaddafi largely ignored Libya's ancient past, labeling it as colonialist. Although there have been recent efforts to rehabilitate some sites for their potential as tourist destinations, Qaddafi and/or his cronies have also allegedly sold off statuary from ancient sites like Leptis Magna for personal profit. See http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/02/libyan-archaeology-scandals.html Like many despots, Qaddafi seems unable to distinguish between public property and his own.
Let's hope Libya's well preserved ancient ruins stay safe, and the Libyan people prevail in their death match with their eccentric tyrant, Col. Qaddafi, and his cronies.
What reports there are suggest they remain undisturbed for now. See
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/27/us-libya-protests-heritage-idUKTRE71Q0M520110227?pageNumber=1 However, one has to wonder about their fate, particularly if the Qaddafi regime holds on for an extended period of time.
When Libya was an Italian colony, Mussolini lavished money on archaeology; excavations at Roman sites helped buttress his regime's claim to be the heir of ancient Rome. In reaction, Qaddafi largely ignored Libya's ancient past, labeling it as colonialist. Although there have been recent efforts to rehabilitate some sites for their potential as tourist destinations, Qaddafi and/or his cronies have also allegedly sold off statuary from ancient sites like Leptis Magna for personal profit. See http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/02/libyan-archaeology-scandals.html Like many despots, Qaddafi seems unable to distinguish between public property and his own.
Let's hope Libya's well preserved ancient ruins stay safe, and the Libyan people prevail in their death match with their eccentric tyrant, Col. Qaddafi, and his cronies.
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