Between 28 November and 2 December, members of the project consortium travelled to Beirut to conduct an assessment mission to prepare the upcoming activities in Lebanon, Italy and Netherlands. The assessment meetings were conducted with local and international stakeholders allowing for an important exchange of ideas and information.
This was the first time all project partners met in person, and therefore a Management Board Meeting was organized in the first day to discuss project progress and prepare the future activities. In the afternoon of the first day, the consortium held a meeting with the Ambassador of The Netherlands to Lebanon Mr. Hans Peter van der Woude. This was the occasion to present the project objectives and key activities envisaged, as well to brief the Ambassador on the topics of cultural heritage protection and illicit trafficking on cultural property.
In order to discuss the existent legal basis regarding cultural property crimes, the project team met with the Public Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat and the Assistant Prosecutor Judge Mirna Kallas, at the Justice Palace. The LEAs that are part of the consortium were also able to share some information regarding recent criminal investigations in Italy and Netherlands, as well to discuss how judicial cooperation is made between these EU countries and Lebanon. The team is also pleased to have met the Director General of the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) Mr. Sarkis Khoury, with whom we discussed about the current situation of cultural heritage protection in Lebanon.
As PROTECT-HERITAGE is an EU-funded project funded by the European Commission (DG HOME), representatives of the consortium held a meeting with the EU Delegation in Lebanon to present the project work plan and objectives. In addition, being the project led by the Carabinieri, the team was welcomed at the Italian Embassy for a meeting with Ambassador Ms. Nicoletta Bombardiere. This was the opportunity to discuss past Italian-Lebanese cooperation for the protection of cultural heritage in Lebanon, as well to better understand the situation in the country. Finally, the project held a meeting with UNESCO Regional Office in Beirut to present the project activities and discuss UNESCO’s past activities in the country.
The final meetings were dedicated to the Law Enforcement and Military stakeholders. Therefore, the team met with Colonel Nicolas Saad (former head of unit for internal theft at the Internal Security Forces) to once again share the news regarding the project and discuss the current situation in Lebanon regarding crimes against cultural property as well law enforcement training needs to be addressed during the project’s activities. Finally, the consortium paid a visit to the Independent Works Regiment (IWR) of the Lebanese Army, where the Colonel (P.S.C) Youssef Haydar welcomed us. After an information session regarding the work of IWR – especially during the Beirut blast – the team visited the facilities and witnessed the ongoing training program on cultural heritage protection that is carried by the Army in partnership with national stakeholders.
The PROTECT-HERITAGE is a project for the protection of Lebanese cultural heritage and to fight the illicit trafficking of cultural property into the European Union The project led by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in partnership with the Netherlands National Police, B&S Europe, Iconem, OSDIFE and the Italian Customs (ADM). The project is funded by the Internal Security Fund-Police of the European Commission (DG HOME).
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