The Looting of Syria

February 21, 2015

Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – Urging global cooperation “to impair, isolate and incapacitate” terrorist threats, the United Nations Security Council recently approved measures targeting sources of funding for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and the Al Qaida affiliated group the Al-Nusra Front. The Security Conceal condemned those parties who are buying oil from the groups, banning all trade in looted antiquities from Iraq and Syria, and calling on governments to end ransom payments for kidnapping victims. The Russian-led resolution was unanimously adopted by the Security Council.

Anti — The gold-plated bronze figurine (photo D Osseman) was stolen from the museum in Hama, western Syria. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

The resolution condemns the destruction and smuggling of cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Al-Nusra Front, “whether such destruction is incidental or deliberate, including targeted destruction of religious sites and objects.” The resolution also notes concern that the groups are generating income from engaging directly or indirectly in the looting and smuggling of antiquities and other cultural heritage items.

“What started as opportunistic theft by some has turned into an organized transnational business that is helping fund terror,” said Michael Danti, an archaeologist at Boston University who is currently advising the United States Department of State on how to tackle the issue. “It’s the gravest cultural emergency I’ve seen.” While the Resolution focus on the activities of ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front evidence is mounting the regime of Syrian President of Bashar Al Assad is not only actively participating in the destruction of certain historical heritage sites but in profiteering from the looting of antiquities.

In 2012 an archaeologist trained that Damascus University and another Syrian archeologist college begin cataloging evidence of looting from all sides of the conflict. The team operates in secrecy to protect their work as they attempt to visit and examine sites targeted by looters. “It’s dangerous work. We have to get in and out of a site very quickly,” one of the archeologists said. “The looting has become systematic, and we can’t keep up.” The team operates in secrecy to protect themselves from loyalists and other groups participating in the cultural looting and destruction “The regime knows us and is looking for us,” because of work done to expose looting by Syrian regime loyalists, said the Damascus-trained archaeologist. “Other groups could kill us if they knew what we were doing, so we move in the shadows.”

Many of the antiquities are being sold by middlemen to wealthy collectors in the Gulf and eventually find their way into the global market. The black market antiquities trade is also to drugs and arms smuggling and human trafficking. While much of the world’s focus has been on importance of cutting off the Islamic State’s two principal sources of funding, the sale of Syrian oil and ransoms, the looting and smuggling of antiquities has become a growing source of funding for ISIS. Locations targeted in Syria for looting include historic sites that have been designated as UNESCO world heritage sites including the ruined city of Palmyra, the crusader castle Crac des Chevaliers and medieval buildings in Aleppo. Experts believe this looting, as well as shocking demolition of ancient relics and historic sites by the extremist group including the 2,800-year-old Hittite sculptures in Raqqa, represents the largest threat to artwork and cultural heritage sites since World War II. The looting of Syrian antiquities robs the Syrian people of their cultural property and ultimately their history as the cultural treasures from what is considered to be the birthplace of western civilized are spirited away and sold to the highest bidder, all to fuel and finance more death and destruction.

For more information please see:

BBC News – The Men Who Smuggle the Loot That Funds IS – 16 February 2015

International Business Times Australia – SIS’ Looting Of Precious Relics in Syria ‘Biggest Threat’ To Art since World War II – 12 February 2015

The Smithsonian – Can Antiquities Looting In Syria Be Stopped? – 12 February 2015

United Nations News Centre – Security Council Approves Resolution Targeting Sources of Financing for ISIL – 12 February 2015

The Independent – Call for UK to Take Tougher Action to Save Antiquities from Isis – 11 February 2015

The Wall Street Journal – Culture Brigade: Syrian ‘Monuments Men’ Race To Protect Antiquities as Looting Bankrolls Terror – 10 February 2015

National Geographic – ISIS Cashing In On Looted Antiquities to Fuel Iraq Insurgency – 26 June 2015

Bill Browder’s Red Notice Hits the UK Sunday Time’s Best Seller List

February 20, 2015

February 20, 2015 – ‘Red Notice,’ a non-fiction thriller by justice campaigner Bill Browder, hit ‘The Sunday Times’ best-seller list in the first week since the book’s launch.

‘Red Notice’ is an unputdownable account of the rise and fall in fortune of a Westerner, once the largest international investor in Russia, and a look under the hood of the massive corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime. The book is told through the story of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured and killed in Russian police custody after testifying about a $230 million government corruption scam.

The Sunday Times list reflects weekly book sales in the UK. ‘Red Notice’ has gained the No 9 position on this week’s Sunday Times list, which will be published on Sunday, February 22nd. It means that the book has become an instant best-seller in Britain.

“The reason I wrote the book is so that people could see for themselves what has happened to me and to Sergei Magnitsky when we tried to expose Russian government corruption. I wrote it in a style that both those interested in Russia and those who are not would find it easily accessible and interesting. It exceeds my best hopes to get such amazing feedback from my readers,” said Bill Browder.

This success in the UK follows ‘Red Notice’ becoming a best-seller in the US, where it has now been on ‘The New York Times’ best-seller list for the second week since its launch.

‘Red Notice’ has received rave reviews from celebrities and ordinary readers alike.

Playwright Tom Stoppard said: “The story of Sergei Magnitsky’s life and death is?a shocking true-life thriller, and Bill Browder was the man to write it.”

Reviewers on amazon.co.uk said:

“It reads like a legal and political thriller, a historical novel and true crime story all in one and I would recommend to everyone who is old enough to read to buy or download to their kindle and can guarantee you will be hooked before you reach the 3rd chapter.”

“It is the clearest, most fact-dense, heart-breaking and heartfelt account of grotesque, systematic and unrelenting criminality, at the highest levels of the government of a country, Russia, whose leaders brazenly demand the world’s respect while continuing to break the world’s laws.”

The book has also received glowing reviews in the global media:

“An unburdening, a witness statement and a thriller all that the same time … Electrifying … One heck of a read.” – The Times

“[Browder’s] freewheeling, snappy book describes the meteoric rise, and disastrous fall, of a buccaneer capitalist who crossed the wrong people and paid a steep price. . . The high stakes make for a zesty tale” – New York Times

“A sizzling accountof Mr Browder’s rise, fall and metamorphosis from bombastic financier to renowned human-rights activist … Readsmore like a financial thriller than a real-life story” – The Economist

“A tale that makes the dirty dealings of House of Cards look like Snow White.” – Toronto Star

‘Red Notice’ was published by Random House and released in the UK on 5 February 2015.

Triple bombing in Libya kills dozens

February 20, 2015

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter- Africa

al-Qubbah- Libya

Earlier this week, following the release of a gruesome video that showed the beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians, and one non-Christian, Egypt launched air strikes in and near the city of Derna. The strikes targeted training camps and arms caches in the city. Groups affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the video, and called the beheaded Coptic Christians, ‘crusaders.’

Following these are strikes, Islamic State affiliate groups vowed revenge for the attacks on Derna. On Friday, Islamic State affiliate groups carried out a triple attack on the eastern city of al-Qubbah. One of the apparent targets of the attack was the parliament speaker of the internationally recognized parliament of Libya, Aguila Salah. Medical personnel assert that Salah was not home at the time of the attack. The two other bombings in the triple strike included a police station, as well as a gas station. The majority of those killed in these attacks were waiting in line at the gas station. Over 30 people have died, although a source quoted by Reuters asserts that the death toll is nearer to 40 and over 70 injured.

Libya plunged into chaos following the ousting of Col. Moammar Kadafi in 2011. Since that time, factions have waged war with one another in an effort to gain control over Libya. No one group has gained significant traction. ISIL has sought to capitalize on the instability and violence that currently racks Libya, in an effort to gain traction in Africa. While it is not a group that currently predominates in Libya, recent events have begun to establish the Islamic State as a very real actor in the game in Libya. Egypt has become increasingly alarmed by the rate at which the Islamic State has been gaining support in Libya, as Egypt is currently fighting another Islamic State affiliate group in the Sinai Peninsula.

For more information, please visit:

ABC News- Triple bombings kill at least 25 in eastern Libya, medics say– 20 Feb., 2015

Al Jazeera- Deaths in car bombings in east Libya city– 20 Feb., 2015

LA Times- Bomb attacks in Libya kill at least 34– 20 Feb., 2015

BBC News- Libya Violence: Bombs kill dozens in al-Qubbah– 20 Feb., 2015

Female suicide bomber kills nearly a dozen in Nigerian city; wounds over thirty others

February 20, 2015

By Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter- Africa

Damaturu, Nigeria-

This past Sunday afternoon, a female bomber, who witnesses assert looked about sixteen years of age, arrived at the city’s crowded market area in a car, and made her way into the crowds. Local time was about 1 P.M., a busy shopping time on Sundays. The unidentified female went to a crowded area, positioned herself, and then detonated the bomb that she was wearing underneath her clothes. With this detonation, the bomber killed at least ten people, and wounded over thirty others in the surrounding area.

Witnesses say that after the bomb was detonated, the crowd at the market descended into panic. Authorities were unable to collect and remove the remains of the female bomber, as a crowd had begun to collect her body parts and light them on fire.

Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Sunday’s bombing bears what some say are the “hallmarks” of a Boko Haram attack. In the past year, Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group that wishes to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, has increasingly used female bombers to carry out planned attacks. This attack shares many of the similarities of the previous attacks carried out this year, leading authorities to suspect Boko Haram’s involvement.

Boko Haram has played a key role in destabilizing northern Nigeria with the intent of establishing an Islamic state. The group has launched previous attacks on Damaturu. Currently, the violence has begun to spill over into neighboring countries, including Chad, Cameroon, and Niger. These states, along with Nigeria, have agreed to establish a regional military apparatus that will serve to combat and subdue Boko Haram.

The violence and instability have also pushed officials in Nigeria to postpone the presidential election until March 28^th, 2015. Many Nigerians, investors, as well as states in the international community question President Goodluck’s ability to adequately address and combat Boko Haram, and fear that further instability is likely to arise. Goodluck’s rival in the presidential election is Muhammadu Buhari. Many believe that he will take a harder line on security issues, and is better equipped to address the threat of Boko Haram due to his successful quelling of an Islamic uprising in the 1980’s.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News- Suicide bomber kills seven in Nigerian city of Damaturu– 15 Feb., 2015

Al Jazeera- Female suicide bomber kills ten in Nigeria’s Damaturu-15 Feb., 2015

The New York Times- Female suicide bomber kills ten in a Nigerian region racked by Islamist violence– 15 Feb., 2015

Reuters- Female suicide bomber kills ten in Nigerian bus station– 15 Feb., 2015

Control of Yemen Split Amongst Non-State Groups

February 19, 2015

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

Sanna, Yemen

Yemen is in a state of chaos, Shiite rebels, Al-Qaeda and government forces and other groups compete for control of the country. The chaos has been exacerbated since Shiite militants, known as Houthi rebels seized key government buildings, kidnapped the President’s Chief-of-Staff and surrounded the presidential mansion. In response, the President, Prime Minister and cabinet have stepped down leaving the Houthi’s with control of the capital and the majority of its infrastructure. The Houthi’s represent the Shiite minority of Yemen, which is a predominantly Sunni nation.

Houthi Rebels celebrate outside the Presidential Palace in Sanna (Photo curtesy of Reuters)

Concerns over the chaos and in fighting in Yemen stretch far beyond its borders, the U.S and European Allies are very concerned over who could end up in power. The former government of Yemen was one of the U.S’s top Middle Eastern Allies in the fight against AL-Qaeda. The concern is also very real in Europe after the Paris attacks were claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen. Even though most of the unrest has been attributed to the Houthi militant group AL-Qaeda has also struck out against government assets and military institutions. A statement by the news media liaison for Al-Qaeda claimed that the group had captured an entire Yemeni National Army brigade and seized control of an important oil-producing region in Southeastern Yemen.

There are a few other major players in the power struggle beside the Houthis and Al-Qaeda. The others include the Muslim Brotherhood, in the form of a political group called the Al Islah Party. The party is Sunni and is in opposition to the Houthi movement. The other major player is ISIS, leader al-Baghdadi has called on Yemeni Sunnis to resist the Shiite Houthi rebels. ISIS is also looking to outshine Al-Qaeda and become the dominant group.

The U.N has also expressed concern over the unrest in Yemen; Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has stated that Yemen is essentially collapsing before our eyes. The Security Council has issued a resolution demanding that the Houthis step aside and relinquish control of all government institutions. The resolution also approved an emergency council meeting, which allowed the resolution to be enforced by military force.

For more information, please see:

CNN — U.N Security Council Slams Houthi Rebels Takeover in Yemen — 16 February 2015

The New York Times — U.N Warns that Yemen as Al-Qaeda Fighters Make Big Gains — 12 February 2015

CNN — Who’s in Charge in Yemen? — 23 January 2015

Al Jazeera — UN Security Council Demands Houthis Step Aside in Yemen — 16 February 2015