New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Interpol “cannot instruct” member countries to take action against ‘wanted terrorists’ –to arrest or extradite — as it is “exclusively within the discretion” of national authorities, Secretary General of the international police body Jurgen Stock has said.
The comments of Stock are significant given that many of India’s most wanted terrorists including Dawood Ibrahim, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, etc are in safe hideouts in Pakistan, which has not taken any action despite India’s ‘Red Notices’ against these designated criminals.
“Please note that a Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action,” he said in an email interview with PTI.
When asked about Interpol Red Notices not being respected by Pakistan, which is harbouring many designated criminals and Indian fugitives, the Secretary-General said each member country decides what legal value it gives to a Red Notice and the authority of their law enforcement officers to make an arrest.
“Interpol’s General Secretariat cannot instruct member countries on whether to arrest an individual or refrain from doing so, or whether to engage in extradition proceedings. Such decisions are exclusively within the discretion of the competent national authorities of member countries,” he said without naming Pakistan.
Reports suggest that Dawood, wanted for the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, has even travelled to several countries since he escaped from India despite pending Red Notices against him, sources said.
Stock is in the national capital to attend the 90th Interpol General Assembly hosted by India from October 18 in which key aspects of financial crimes and corruption will be discussed.
Having already organised the General Assembly in 1997, India was given an out-of-turn chance through a vote to organise the event in the 75th anniversary year celebrations of Indian Independence, according to officials.
Home Minister Amit Shah made a proposal in this regard to Stock who called on the minister during his visit to India in 2019.
The General Assembly is Interpol’s supreme governing body, which meets annually and each member country is represented by one or several delegates who are typically Ministers, chiefs of police, Heads of their INTERPOL National Central Bureaus and senior ministry officials, they said.
Stock also said many countries will not extradite their own nationals, and as the purpose of a Red Notice is to request the arrest and extradition of an individual, national authorities will not usually arrest the individual.
However, depending on the country’s national legislation and its agreements with the requesting country, cooperation may take place after the location of the individual has been established based on the Red Notice, he said.
“Additionally, if that individual travels to another country, the national authorities there may decide to act on the Red Notice request. A Red Notice can therefore act as a ‘tripwire’ for fugitives attempting to evade justice,” he said without offering any comment on the specific case of Pakistan and terrorists there.
On the question of the efficacy of Red Notices in the light of countries ignoring such pleas, he said Red Notices are extremely valuable tools for global law enforcement.
“Each year they play an important role in the arrest of thousands of criminals including child abusers, murderers, fraudsters and terrorists worldwide,” he said.
Stock said the Notices system is just one small part of Interpol’s activities in assisting its 195 member countries to combat a range of criminal activities.
“These include the organization’s 19 global databases – ranging from DNA and stolen motor vehicles to firearms and works of art – which contain some 126 million pieces of data and which are searched more than 20 million times each day – which equates to around 250 searches per second,” he added.
The former chief of the German Federal Police said Interpol supports its member countries to address transnational crimes including human trafficking, cybercrime, financial crime, drug trafficking, people smuggling and terrorism.
“In addition, our Command and Coordination Centre provides around-the-clock support for any country requiring urgent assistance,” he said.
Recently, Interpol has sent back India’s request seeking Red Notice against Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun with queries. Earlier also several cases have been reported in which Indian requests were turned down including that of Islamic evangelist Zakir Naik, accused of promoting terror in India and abroad.
“Every Red Notice request from every member country is checked for compliance with Interpol’s Constitution and rules by a specialized task force prior to their publication by the General Secretariat. All Wanted Persons Diffusions are also reviewed by this task force,” he said.
Stock said the review takes into account information available at the time of publication, and a notice is only published if it complies with the organisation’s constitution, under which it is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
“Whenever new and relevant information is brought to the attention of the General Secretariat after a Red Notice has been published, the task force re-examines the case. Every Red Notice request from each member country is treated equally and on a case-by-case basis,” he said in response to a question on the perception that third-world countries do not get the same attention as developed countries when it comes to the issuance of Red Notices.
He said a review of a Red Notice may also be triggered by an application by an individual to the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF), which is an independent body from the Interpol General Secretariat.
“Each request received is examined to determine its admissibility. A detailed assessment of the request is then performed according to the organisation’s rules. This will often involve gathering more information from the applicant, the source of information and open source research, as well as consult any other entity or expert in relation to the matter,” he said.
Stock said that based on this information, the members of the CCF then decide whether the Red Notice in question is compliant with the organization’s Constitution and Rules.
“If a Red Notice is found non-compliant by the CCF, it is deleted from Interpol’s databases and the General Secretariat promptly informs member countries which are also advised to update their national databases accordingly,” he said. PTI ABS ACB SKL ABS PYK PYK
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