Corruption encourages robbery of cultural assets in Afghanistan

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) warned on Wednesday of a sell-out of traditional cultural assets in Afghanistan. Through corruption, which is rife at all levels of the public administration, robbery and smuggling of cultural assets are being fuelled. Alone in the town of Herat, which lies in the west of Afghanistan, more than 100 exhibits have been stolen from state museums since 2004. And it is precisely in this town that Germany provides special support for the preservation of cultural monuments which are thousands of years old. Berlin has since the year 2000 to the tune of some 3.6 million euros supported alongside other projects programmes for the restoration of the Old Town of Herat. This is important for the strengthening of identity and the emergence of a civilian society, said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a visit to Herat in July 2008. In the matter of preserving cultural assets Afghanistan is by far the most important partner which Germany has.

„The threatening sell-out of the traditional cultural assets throws a bad light on the Afghan authorities and on the Karsai government”, said the GfbV Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius. The sluggish manner in which reconstruction work is progressing also provides stimulus for the robbery of valuable ancient works of art. Since the end of September 2008 alone 22 exhibits going back some 3000 years have disappeared from the National Museum in Herat, stated recently the director for the department of historical sites in Herat, Ayamuddin Ajmal. The museum, which is not open to the general public, lies in an old fortress and houses 1,600 works of art.

Some 4,000 ancient Afghan works of art were placed in secure locations in Denmark, Great Britain and Switzerland in 2007 according to information given by the director of the National Museum in Afghanistan, Omar Khan Massoudi. 70,000 works of art have been lost in the past 30 years through war and plundering. The International Council of Museums set up by UNESCO has since the year 2000 with the object of putting a stop to the illegal trade issued four lists with Afghan works of art which are in danger.

While the local authorities suspect the neighbouring country of Iran of encouraging the robbery of art treasures in Herat to prevent the scheduled recognition of the town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, many observers hold the galloping corruption responsible for this loss. Afghanistan has the reputation of being one of the most corrupt states in the world. On the corruption index of the organisation „Transparency International” the country occupies 176th place out of 180 states tested. Every household in Afghanistan pays about 100 US dollars each year in bribes, although 70 percent of the families live off less than one US dollar per day, was the finding of the organisation „Integrity Watch Afghanistan” in a report published in March 2007 on corruption in Afghanistan.