May 2, 2022
Is there occurring museum’s collections looting in Ukraine?
Is there occurring museum’s collections looting in Ukraine?
The news below causes us the greatest disturbance. If confirmed, it constitutes a war crime that must be investigated and punished exemplarily.
There are already hundreds of cases of museums and historical monuments damaged or even destroyed during the ongoing war in Ukraine, as we learned in a recent video-meeting promoted by ICOM Europe (“Solidarity with Ukraine”, April,6; video registering available here: https://youtu.be/qhPZ71r8Zhc). Devastating. But, despite some signs to the contrary, it was apparently what in war is known as “lateral damages”, that is, damages caused unintentionally, with other targets in view.
The account of an action carried out manu militari by Russian troops, with scientific advice, on museum collections at the Melitopol Museum of Local History, aimging to loot Scythians gold collections, including masterpieces of world importance, takes us to another level: that of State organized crime. And not even because it has occurred before in other war contexts (such as the looting of the National Museum of Iraq, in Baghdad, under the control or even the impulse of the American occupation troops), should it be considered less serious.
Museums and museum professionals in general, and most of all those who gather at ICOM and voluntarily agree to comply with and enforce its Code of Ethics, cannot keep indifferent, just watching such potential crimes. The ICOM National Committee of the Russian Federation has the strictest obligation in this regard to investigate what happened in the Melitopol Museum of Local History, and eventually in others. And, if confirming the reports in the newspapers, ICOM Russia must expressly condemn the occurrence, separating himself from the authorities of his country. By not doing so, it reveals that it is not in a position to comply with the terms of its full participation in ICOM – and we must all draw the appropriate consequences from that.
Luís Raposo
President of ICOM Europe
