On July 10, 2014, in a formal ceremony in Manhattan, ICE and the Justice Department returned to the Mongolian government the fossilized remains of over 18 dinosaur skeletons, including two Tyrannosaurus bataar skeletons that were unlawfully taken from Mongolia.
The fossils of 20-30 animals and a fossilized egg were looted from the Gobi Desert and illegally smuggled into the United States. They were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents during two separate investigations and determined they were illegally poached and smuggled out of Mongolia between 2005 and 2012.
The Mongolian government received:
– Saurolophus Angustirostris (Hadrosaur) skeleton
– Oviraptor matrix containing the remains of at least five Oviraptor skeletons
– Nearly complete Tyrannosaurs Bataar skeleton
– Nearly complete Saurolophus Angustirostris (Hadrosaur) skeleton
– Nearly complete Oviraptor skeleton
– Oviraptor Egg
“The fossils returned today do not belong in the hands of any private collection or one owner. They belong to the people of Mongolia where they will be displayed in their national museum alongside the Bataar ICE repatriated last year,” said James T. Hayes, special agent in charge of HSI New York. “HSI will not allow the illicit greed of some to trump the cultural history of an entire nation.”
According to the ICE press release regarding the turnover ceremony, Mongolian law has firmly established that all paleontological findings are government property and part of the nation’s rich cultural heritage. Since 1924, the Mongolian government has prohibited personal ownership and criminalized the export of items of cultural significance, such as dinosaur remains.
The criminal investigation led to the prosecution and sentencing by a New York Federal Court of a commercial paleontologist to three months incarceration and one year and three months supervised release on charges related to smuggling, conspiracy and sale or receipt of stolen goods.
Since 2007, more than 7,150 artifacts have been returned to 27 countries, including paintings from France, Germany, Poland and Austria; 15th to 18th century manuscripts from Italy and Peru; as well as cultural artifacts from China, Cambodia and Iraq.
More photos and a video of the dinosaur fossils are available here: http://www.dvidshub.net/feature/dino
____
@travelblawg
facebook.com/travelblawg
Subscribe in the sidebar!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
Mongolia is very proud of its dinosaurs. On the main plaza of the national capitol sits a building, open to the public with free admission, containing the repatriated skeleton of a small t-rex-type dinosaur.
Mongolia’s president was said to be responsible for this repatriation from the US, and it probably helped him to win re-election. Mongolia is an important US ally in the region, so I’m sure the US government would have helped in the diplomatic process that led to the repatriation.
Well, I’ve been looking for a way to introduce myself to a fellow attorney. This seems appropriate given that we are both on prior2boarding now and I’m moving to Mongolia at the end of the month.
Mark, what’s your take on the difficulty of determining “cultural significance” in the legal landscape. I’ve read of many commercial dinosaur projects here in the U.S. and always struggle as to what cultural significance that really has. Thoughts?
I like reading your topics, interesting mix of things that no one else really writes about.
Interesting topical question for sure, Randy! I am by no means versed in the past or present Mongolia cultural, but what comes to mind from my experience living, working and interacting with the people of the PRC to the south is the defining of “ownership” in an eastern vs. western manner (speaking very broadly). Specific examples that I noted in my legal world were ownership of private property (real property) and of intellectual property, and how such concepts have evolved over the past 30-40 years as China has changed from a Marxist-Leninist planned economy to a socialist market economy with… Read more »