UAE police chief would be a disastrous choice to lead Interpol (Middle East Eye, link):
“…there is perhaps some reason to be worried by reports that Major General Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi, a UAE police chief, is running to be head of Interpol. The decision is due to be announced at Interpol’s general assembly in December, which is being held in the UAE. Raisi, who already sits on Interpol’s executive committee, is said to be a frontrunner.
Interpol has 194 member states. I can think of a number of them that would be less appropriate to provide the leadership of Interpol – but not many.
Indeed, the UAE has already been accused of misusing the red notice system. It has reportedly been used in the past against individuals who owed debt to UAE banks. Foreigners have found themselves subject to red notices for business disputes, but also smaller offences such as bounced checks and credit card debt.
Meanwhile, Raisi has already been accused of “presiding over the torture of two British citizens,” according to the Telegraph.”
Oborne recounts numerous instances in which Interpol’s ‘Red Notice’ system has been abused by states, including the UAE. Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) system has also been used by states to hound political dissidents.
Further reading
- ‘International document databases as a tool of political persecution’ in Automated Suspicion (July 2020)
- Interpol requests from Turkey: Sloppiness of German police puts own citizens into prison (4 October 2019)
- European Parliament studies: Interpol Red Notices, nuclear safety, “antigypsyism” (15 February 2019)