Interpol notice

Emblems of Interpol notices

An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The information disseminated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, missing persons, unidentified bodies, possible threats, prison escapes, and criminals' modus operandi.^[1]

There are eight types of notices, seven of which are colour-coded by their function: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, Orange, and Purple. The most well-known notice is the Red Notice which is the "closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today".^[2][3] An eighth Special Notice is issued at the request of the United Nations Security Council.

Notices published by Interpol are made either on the organisation's own initiative or are based on requests from National Central Bureaus (NCBs) of member states or authorised international entities such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. All notices are published on Interpol's secure website. Extracts of notices may also be published on Interpol's public website if the requesting entity agrees.

Interpol may only publish a notice that adheres to all the proper legal conditions. For example, a notice will not be published if it violates Interpol's constitution, which forbids the organisation from undertaking activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character. Interpol may refuse to publish a notice that it considers inadvisable or a potential risk.

Notices may be issued in any of the four official languages of Interpol: English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.^[4]

Notice types

Similar to the Notice is another request for cooperation or alert mechanism known as a 'diffusion'. This is less formal than a notice, but also is used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation. A diffusion is circulated directly by a member state or international entity to the countries of their choice, or to the entire Interpol membership and is simultaneously recorded in Interpol's databases.^[1][4]

History

The International Notice system was created in 1946 as Interpol re-established itself after World War II in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud. It initially consisted of six colour coded notices; Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, and Purple. In 2004, the seventh colour was added, Orange.^[3]

In 2005, the Interpol-United Nations Security Council Special Notice was created at the request of the UN Security Council through Resolution 1617 to provide better tools to help the Security Council carry out its mandate regarding the freezing of assets, travel bans, and arms embargoes aimed at individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and was adopted by Interpol at its 74th General Assembly in Berlin in September 2005.^[5]

Controversy

In his book, Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice, Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, describes how the Russian government repeatedly requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice for his arrest. Interpol refused to do so on the basis that it deemed the request was "predominantly political in nature and therefore contrary to INTERPOL's rules and regulations". Unable to secure his extradition, Browder was subsequently tried and convicted by a Moscow court for tax evasion in absentia.^{[8][9][10][11]}

In January 2017, United Kingdom-based NGO Fair Trials called on Interpol to introduce more rigorous checks. Fair Trial chief executive Jago Russell stated, "Interpol has been allowing itself to be used by oppressive regimes across the world to export the persecution of human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents". There have been concerns about conflict of interest as well as in March 2017, the UAE donated $54 million to Interpol, which roughly equaled the contributions by all other member states.^[12] Interpol's secretary-general, Jurgen Stock, stated that Interpol had introduced a task force to review requests "even more intensively".^[13]

Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files ("CCF")

The Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files ("CCF") is an independent monitoring body. It operates in line with a number of official rules and documents and has three main functions:

• Monitoring the application of data protection rules to personal data processed by Interpol
• Advising with regard to any operations or projects concerning the processing of personal information
• Processing requests for access to Interpol's files

In 2008, the Interpol General Assembly voted to amend Interpol's Constitution to integrate the CCF into its internal legal structure, thereby guaranteeing its independence.^[14]

The CCF's most notable function, however, is to consider legal petitions submitted by individuals requesting the revocation of Red Notices. Such petitions, as a rule, only succeed when the Red Notice is deemed to infringe Interpol's Constitution either because it offends the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or because it was issued for political, religious, military, or racial reasons.^[15] In an interview given to Forbes Africa Magazine in July 2013, leading international defense attorney Nick Kaufman observed that it may take months for the CCF to rule on such a petition adding that the review body "doesn't have to give reasons for its decision and there is no right of appeal".^[16]

Red notices often are controversial and have been used to persecute opponents of regimes.^[17] An example being that of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych whose red notice was removed because it was shown to be a political request.^[18][19]

In popular culture

In the original 1985 version of the Brøderbund computer game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first part of the player's objective in each mission is to obtain an Interpol Red Notice (imprecisely described as a "warrant to arrest") against a member of a fictitious crime syndicate.

References

External links

• Official website of Interpol notices
  • Wanted persons
  • Missing persons