EIGHTY-FOUR out of each 100 red notice applications made by Turkey has been accepted by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in the past five years.
This information was provided by Interpol-Europol chairmanship’s head, a division that runs under the Security General Directorate. He was answering a question asked by Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ankara Deputy, Murat Emir.
According to Interpol, Turkey demanded 2 618 red notices and 2 200 of them were accepted by Interpol in the last five years. As a result of the accepted 2 200, a total of 351 suspects were arrested.
Turkey detains foreign suspects accused of terrorism links
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities detained twelve suspects over links to ISIS. The suspects included two French women sought by Interpol, according to a Wednesday report by Anadolu Agency.
The suspects, including French, Syrian and Algerian citizens, were taken into custody after anti-terror raids in the north-western province of Bursa, said the report.
Turkey abuses Interpol membership
Turkey and several other authoritarian governments have increasingly been criticised for abusing their Interpol membership to harass and punish opponents. Interpol is composed of 194 countries and focuses on fighting transnational crimes.
Although Interpol’s charter forbids the pursuit of individuals for political, religious, military or racial reasons, several member states continue to abuse the organisation’s powers and pursue opponents.
Turkish government’s demand to Interpol to have Enes Kanter
According to the Armenian Weekly, Ankara is trying to use Interpol to have Enes Kanter, an NBA basketball player of Turkish origin, arrested and extradited to Turkey as his name is on Interpol’s Red Notice list. Kanter declined to join his team, the New York Knicks, on a trip to London for an NBA game. He said he was wrongly charged by the Erdogan government as a ‘terrorist’ and feared he may be assassinated by Turkish agents in London.
“Turkey asked Interpol to bust journalists”
Several other Turkish dissidents have barely escaped their hunt through Interpol. Last October, Turkey asked Interpol to arrest and extradite Can Dündar, the former editor of Cumhuriyet newspaper, and Ilhan Tanir, editor of the Ahvalnews website. “I have not killed anyone, run a cartel, robbed a bank or done anything else to warrant a global manhunt,” Tanir wrote on Twitter. “The Turkish government is pursuing me for my activities as a journalist.”
Ragip Zarakoglu, a journalist, author, publisher, and human rights defender, was placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list to be arrested and extradited to Turkey. He is currently in Sweden.
Another Turkish journalist was less fortunate. Hamza Yalçin, who had escaped to Sweden, was arrested at Turkey’s request by Interpol in 2017 during his visit to Spain. He was released after two months following pressure from the governments of Sweden and Germany.
Thousands of Red Notice requests by Turkey
Shortly after the coup attempt in July 2016, Turkey made thousands of Red Notice requests to Interpol. Red Notices are only for people accused of serious crimes, and Interpol’s constitution calls on countries not to use the system for political ends and to act within the spirit of international human rights standards. “Turkey, China, Russia and the UAE are in blatant violation of these regulations,” stated the Foreign Policy magazine.
In an April 2017 resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on Interpol “to continue improving its Red Notice procedure in order to prevent and redress abuses even more effectively.”
Johann Bihr, the head of Reporters Without Borders’ Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, stated: “Dozens of Turkish journalists have had to flee abroad since the coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016. But like other exiled journalists all over the world, they are now threatened by Interpol’s political manipulation. The reforms begun by Interpol must now be completed as a matter of urgency so that it is better able to guard against abusive requests from Turkey and other repressive states.”
What is Interpol
Founded in 1923, Interpol is an international police organisation made up of 194 member countries. It is not a police force in the traditional sense – its agents are not able to arrest criminals. Instead, it is more of an information-sharing network, providing a way for national police forces to co-operate effectively and tackle international crime ranging from human trafficking and terrorism to money laundering and illegal art dealing. The France-based organisation operates centralised criminal databases that contain fingerprint records, DNA samples and stolen documents: a treasure trove so valuable that police consulted it 146 times every second in 2017.
Red notice
Interpol’s other main function is to issue notices: alerts to member states for missing or wanted persons. The best-known of these is the “Red Notice”, a notification that a member state would like someone arrested. States are not obliged to follow these notices, but will often treat them as a warrant for someone’s arrest and extradition. “Diffusions”, which can be issued with less bureaucracy, is another popular way of seeking arrests through Interpol.
The post Interpol asked to curb abuse of its systems by oppressive governments appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/01/27/interpol-asked-to-curb-abuse-of-its-systems-by-oppressive-governments/
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