Asia Times: Protectors pillage Cambodian artifacts



	June 24, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Protectors pillage Cambodian artifacts
By Gina Wilkinson

SIEM REAP - Deep inside Cambodia'sforests, highly valuable monuments and temples are being tornapart and sent overseas to grace the collections of wealthyinternational art enthusiasts. While the pillage used to be carried out by desperate KhmerRouge guerrillas, today's thieves are often no less than those supposed to be protecting Cambodia's ancient cultural heritage.

''Oh yes, certainly the military are involved,'' says VannMolyvann, Cambodian special minister of state and head of APSARA,the national body that manages the World Heritage-listed Angkorcomplex in Siem Reap, located in the country's northwest. The Angkor monuments, constructed by Khmer Kings from the ninth to 13th centuries, are a huge drawcard for tourists and bring inmuch-needed foreign capital. Angkor is the world's largest templecomplex, spread over 228 square kilometers.

Wandering through the elaborate temples and intricately linkedgalleries these days, however, the work of the thieves is readilyevident. Bas-relief carvings have been ripped off walls, headshave been sawed off Buddha images, while only the feet remainof many other statues.

Officials are quick to point out that members of the Cambodian military are notthe only ones guilty of thievery at such sites. ''There are some very corrupt army corps which have taken advantage of the civil war to make profits,'' said Molyvann, ''butmany other groups were also involved, such as the Khmer Rouge.'' For years, the Khmer Rouge sold off Cambodian artifacts to finance its war efforts. Just last month, 61 sandstone carvings dating back to the 10th century were seized from the home ofimprisoned Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok. The carvings, weighing 40 tons, were transported from Ta Mok's old headquarters at Anlong Veng in the north of the country nearthe Thai border, and returned to the Angkor Conservatory.

The genocidal Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979and is believed to be responsible for the deaths from torture,sickness, execution or poverty of some 1.7 million people. After its ouster, the group continued to fight from its jungle strongholds, even after the 1993 UN-sponsored elections. But the Khmer Rouge's collapse opened the door for art thieves to get to previously inaccessible and highly dangerous areas.

''There have been great improvements in the security of theAngkor area, but thefts are continuing in other more remoteareas,'' stated Etienne Clement, head of the United NationsEducation, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) in PhnomPenh. ''In fact the thefts are getting bigger and more serious,'' headded. ''A good example of this is the massive pillaging earlierthis year of Banteay Chmar in the north of the country, near theThai border."

Almost half of the intricately carved walls of the Banteay Chmartemple were dismantled and trucked away, and carved stone godswere left headless. Some of the pieces later turned up in ritzy antique shops inBangkok, a city that has earned a reputation as a major hub forthe illicit sale of antiquities.

''I got this statue through my broker, he deals with the Khmermilitary,'' confided the manager of an antique store in Bangkok'sRiver City shopping complex, displaying what he claims is a 13thcentury statue of Buddha stolen from The Bayon inside the Angkorcomplex. ''Our broker is in the military too,'' he said. ''He is a captainin the Thai army. All of the men involved in this kind of businesscome from the army."

The antique dealer explains that without military cooperation, itwould be impossible to get heavy artifacts out of Cambodia.''Otherwise you won't be able to transport it because there are somany military checkpoints,'' he stated. ''All the antique dealershere operate the same way, despite what they may tell you."

The military attache at the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, ColonelPang Savan, admits some soldiers are involved in the theft andsmuggling of antiquities. ''We investigated the theft from Banteay Chmar and found thatsoldiers from Division Seven, including one with the rank ofmajor, were involved,'' he explained. ''An official investigation is now underway in Cambodia and I hope they are given severe sentences. This is our heritage, thelife of our country, that they are stealing,'' argued Pang.

Colonel Pang says he has asked the Thai police and army to stepup measures to prevent Cambodian artifacts from crossing over theborder into Thailand. He pointed out, ''While it's true that some Cambodian soldiersare involved, they could not get away with the smuggling withoutthe help of some of their Thai counterparts."

The River City antique dealers say their biggest clients comefrom the United States, Europe and wealthy Asian nations such asSingapore and Japan. ''At the moment there is a high demand for Cambodian artifacts onthe international art market,'' noted UNESCO's Clement. ''Manypeople are simply not aware that by buying an object they arecontributing to the dismantling and destruction of a monument."

Phnom Penh has asked the United States to place a moratorium onthe importation of all Cambodian antiquities. ''We would like a moratorium placed on the import of artifacts from our country, similar to that which the (United States)enacted in the fifties preventing people bringing in Incanartifacts from Mexico and Guatemala,'' said Molyvann. He reports that initial reactions from the United States have been positive.

While this may partially address the problem at the internationallevel, Molyvann himself concedes that putting an end to militaryinvolvement in the trafficking of Cambodian antiquities will notbe easy.

In recent years, different armed factions, including former KhmerRouge fighters, have been absorbed into the military. Molyvann acknowledged: ''It is very difficult to wipe out the corruption because we are not yet able to completely manage the army. The government has just been set up and is starting to clean up thecorrupt army corps, but it will take some time."

(Inter Press Service)

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