The State Department-led Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) recently resumed in-person training for foreign law enforcement officials through a series of workshops held in May 2022 in Cyprus, Greenland, and Egypt.
The workshops support U.S. efforts to disrupt cultural property trafficking in the United States and abroad, and are just the latest of more than 100 Task Force-led training programs for domestic and international law enforcement to build capacity around the world.
In collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), CATF held a week-long workshop for Cypriot and Greek law enforcement partners that offered participants hands-on training in the investigation of cultural property cases. Attendees included members of the Cypriot and Hellenic Police, archaeologists from the Cypriot Department of Antiquities and the Cyprus Institute, as well as customs officers and prosecutors. The workshop was an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the participant organizations and to share best practices for more effective response to cultural property crimes.
In partnership with Greenland’s National Museum and Archives, CATF conducted two workshops focused on protecting Greenland’s cultural heritage from the emerging threats posed by climate change and a rapidly growing tourist industry. The trainings were held in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and in Kangerlussuaq, near its largest airport. The workshops brought together Greenland’s Airport Authority, customs agents, local law enforcement, the national tourism board, private tourism operators, and U.S. specialists from the Department of State and Department of the Interior to discuss cultural heritage protection and preservation across all sectors.
In Cairo, members of Egypt’s Antiquities authority, archaeology and tourism community, customs service, and law enforcement gathered for a two-day cultural heritage workshop supported by the Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program and organized by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). CATF members from the Department of State, HSI, FBI, Department of Justice, and Customs and Border Protection spoke on cultural heritage legislation, the antiquities market, and law enforcement case studies. Workshop participants visited local cultural sites like the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the archaeological site of Saqqara to gain firsthand exposure to the types of sites and collections at risk of trafficking.
In the coming months, CATF will offer additional in-person training workshops in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Original source can be found here.
