Italy Promises to Return Obelisk Within the Year
and Recognises its "Central Importance" to Ethiopia

By by Dr. Richard Pankhurst

Italy has at long last promised the immediate return of the Aksum Obelisk, looted on the personal orders of Benito Mussolini sixty years ago. Agreements for the stele's speedy restitution to Ethiopia have in the last two months been signed by the two Governments.

We publish below the full English text of the Joint Statement, signed by Ethiopian Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr Tekeda Alemu, and Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Senator, Rino Serri, on 4 March 1997; and a subsequent Joint Ethio-Italian Declaration, issued on 8 April, on the occasion of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's visit to Rome

Great Credit

The Italian decision to return the Obelisk, for which a number of us have been actively agitating for over the last half decade, does great credit to both governments. The decision should be welcomed by the peoples of both Ethiopia and Italy, as well as by all friends of international justice, and of the fulfilment of treaties.

In the Joint Statement the Italian Government states that it "appreciated the central importance that the Ethiopian people and Government attach to the return of the Obelisk". This statement represents the implicit rejection of the argument of the former Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Signor Pastucci-Righi, who declared, in 1990, that Ethiopian public opinion "knew nothing" of the Obelisk, and "attached no sentimental or cultural, let alone economic value to its return".

Shouldering the Responsibility of Restitution

The Joint Statement goes on to observe that the Ethiopian Government "expressed its deep appreciation for Italy's resolve to shoulder the responsibility for the restitution of the Obelisk to Axum". The Italian Government, curiously, does not actually refer to this responsibility in the Joint Statement, but does so explicitly in the Joint Declaration. This states that the Italian Government "declared its readiness to shoulder the responsibility for the restitution of the Obelisk to Axum to be carried out in an operation to be completed by the end of 1997". This obligation was also accepted in a statement, which Senator Serri made to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, shortly afterwards, on 13 April.

The Italian promise that the Obelisk is to be returned within the year is to be welcomed, as it puts an end to almost half a century of prevarication, intrigue and delay. If the stele is in fact to be returned, and re-erected in Aksum, within the year, as stated in both documents, the authorities will, however, have indeed to work fast. The Obelisk, at the time of writing, is still standing in Rome, where Mussolini put it, and only seven months remain to the end of the year. No information on the actual means of transportation to be adopted has yet been published.

A "Gift" to Italy

Both documents, it will be noticed, refer to Ethiopia's willingness to "donate" Italy "a gift" to commemorate the return of the Obelisk, and as an expression of the "friendship" between the two countries.

The idea of this "gift" appears to have had its origin in a Public Hearing on the Obelisk, held at the Ethiopian Parliament last year. At that gathering my wife, Rita Pankhurst, proposed that a monument, designed by an Ethiopian artist, and selected by an international commission, should be placed in Rome, on the spot from which the Aksum obelisk was hopefully to be removed. This monument, according to that proposal, was to bear an inscription, stating: (1) that the Obelisk was looted from Aksum by fascist Italy, in 1937; and (2) that it was finally restored to Ethiopia, after sixty years, in accordance with Article 37 of the 1947 Italian Peace Treaty with the United Nations. In that agreement Italy undertook, it will be recalled. to return, within 18 months, all loot taken from Ethiopia after 3 October 1935, i.e. the date of the fascist invasion.

The inscription, we would urge, should refer not only to the long friendship of the Ethiopian and Italian peoples, important as this undoubtably was, but also to their joint struggle against Fascism. The monument, which would thus commemorate Ethiopia's historic struggle for independence between 1935 and 1941, would thus become an anti-fascist symbol of major international significance.

It should be emphasised that the return of the Obelisk is an act of restitution, in accordance with the !947 Peace Treaty, a noble act of restoration in Italy's most honourable tradition of civilisation, and in no sense a shysters' exchange of one "treasure" for another.

Other Loot

The Joint Statement and the Joint Declaration both deal exclusively with the Obelisk. They contain no reference to other loot taken from Ethiopia by fascist Italy. At least one such item (pre-war Ethiopia's only extant aeroplane) is currently on display in the Italian Aviation Museum.

It is to be hoped that the present Italian Government, with the sense of justice which it has displayed over the Obelisk, will now, on its own initiative, and without prodding from outside, take steps to trace, and return in accordance with the Peace Treaty, all remaining loot taken by fascist Italy from Ethiopia.

An Agreement of Major Importance

To return to the Italian decision over the Obelisk: the agreement is, on any showing, of major importance. It should be recognised as a major land-mark in the development of friendly relations between the two countries. The agreement, particularly if accompanied by the restitution to Ethiopia of all other loot taken from it during the fascist occupation, will demonstate that Italy is, at long last, providing a noble example to such other European countries as may be holding ill-gotten cultural objects from Ethiopia, or other countries of the Third World.

We look forward to the speedy implementation of the agreement, so that the ancient Aksum Obelisk may at last return to its Ethiopian motherland.

Text of the Joint Statement

The Joint Statement, of 4 March, reads as follows:
"Appreciative of enhancing bilateral relations in every sphere,

"Appreciative of the inestimable value of the Axum Obelisk to Ethiopia,

"Fully cognisizant of the positive impact of the Obelisk's restitution on the friendship between the two countries,

"On the basis of existing Treaties,

"The Governments of Ethiopia and Italy have defined procedures for the restitution of the Obelisk now standing in Rome, to Axum,

"This issue was examined at a meeting between the delegations led, respectively, by the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, Senator Serri, and the Ethiopian Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Tekada Alemu. Both delegations included experts in the field, who held a detailed exchange of views and information, and carried out a brief on site inspection of the Obelisk.

"Both the political and technical discussions were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, emphasising yet again the excellent relations that exist between the two countries. The Italian delegation appreciated the central importance that the Ethiopian people and Government attach to the restitution of the Obelisk to Axum. This gesture of great significance would set the seal on the renewed friendship between the two countries and peoples.

"The meeting defined the following stages through which the operations to effect the return of the Obelisk to Ethiopia shall be performed within the current year, according to the attached time-table:

Obelisk and as a testimony to the friendship between Italy and Ethiopia.

Rome, March 4th 1997

"For the Government of Italy. The Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, Rino Serri".

"For the Government of Ethiopia. The Deputy Foreign Minister Takeda Alemu".

Text of the Joint Declaration

The Joint Declaration, of 8 April, reads as follows:

"On the occasion of the visit to Italy of a high level delegation of the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia led by HE. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, discussions were held on the commencement of work regarding the restitution of the stelae of Axum, standing in Rome since 1937, to its original home in Axum, Ethiopia.

"The two sides reviewed the results of the Joint Committee established by the two countries which was held in Rome, Italy, from March 3 to 4, 1997. They noted with satisfaction that the meeting was concluded successfully by defining the procedures for the restitution of the Obelisk to its original home in Axum.

"The Italian Government declared its readiness to shoulder the responsibility for the restitution of the Obelisk to Axum, to be carried out in an operation to be completed by the end of 1997.

"The Ethiopian Government expressed its readiness to donate a gift to Italy to commemorate the return of the Obelisk and as a testimony to the friendship between Ethiopia and Italy.

"The two Governments agreed to instruct their experts to move swiftly to take the necessary steps required for surveying, dismantling, cleaning and transporting the Obelisk to Ethiopia. They agreed to take all the measures necessary to ensure this important and historic task was carried out with the necessary care and within the time-table already agreed upon".