The 89th General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, commenced in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday. The assembly will see elections for new members of Interpol’s executive committee, including the agency’s President, amid controversies surrounding the presidential bids submitted by China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
📣 NEWS: The 89th INTERPOL General Assembly has opened in Turkey, with delegates voting to admit the Federated States of Micronesia as the Organization’s 195th member country. View our press release 👇https://t.co/kBsth3akk9
— INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) November 23, 2021
The meeting was attended by around 470 police chiefs and representatives from more than 160 countries, who will vote to elect Interpol’s new leadership. The voting for the executive committee has been scheduled for Thursday.
The 13-member executive committee is the highest decision-making body of the agency and meets three times a year to set “organisational policy and direction.” It is also in charge of the General Assembly’s decisions as well as the administration and work of the General Secretariat.
The elections have also been marred by controversies due to presidential bids submitted by China and the UAE. Critics note that, if either Beijing or Abu Dhabi’s candidate wins, they could use Interpol to hunt down exiled dissidents and even political opponents. An investigative report released by The Intercept on Sunday found that Interpol’s systems have been “exploited [by] authoritarian regimes around the world.” The news organisation notes that this has led to increased “politicisation” and “authoritarian influence” of the agency.
Moreover, last week, 50 legislators from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), including India, Australia, Japan, Britain, and the United States, penned a joint letter to criticise China’s use of the Interpol’s Red Notice system to target Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Chinese dissidents.
A Red Notice is issued by Interpol for fugitives wanted for prosecution and is a request to law enforcement agencies across the world to arrest wanted people and extradite them to the country that issued the notice.
Adding to the controversy, the previous Chinese President of Interpol, Meng Hongwei, was detained in China in 2018 over alleged bribery and fraud charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, Meng’s wife, Grace, told the Associated Press last week that her husband was implicated under false charges and that his arrest was actually part of a “political purge” by the Chinese Community Party.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s candidate, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, has been accused of torture and arbitrary detentions in the Gulf country. Two British men who have accused Raisi of torturing them have been campaigning against Raisi’s bid for president. Furthermore, complaints of torture have been filed against him in five countries, including France and Turkey. Raisi is already a member of Interpol’s executive committee and has vowed to modernise the agency if elected.
The 89th General Assembly of Interpol also saw delegates voting to admit the Federated States of Micronesia as the organisation’s 195th member country. Moreover, delegates discussed proposals to tackle a “parallel crime pandemic,” including a rise in cybercrimes and online child sexual exploitation, caused by the coronavirus outbreak.