Interpol's weaknesses revealed in the US-Russian battle over the presidency

Aya Batrawy and Angela Charlton, Associated Press

Update

11:52 PST, Wednesday 21 November 2018

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The United States won, Russia lost and Interpol narrowly escaped a disaster – this is the result of a dramatic vote for the president of the United States agency. international police, dominated by the fear that Russia wants to turn Interpol into a tool to track down its enemies.

While rights groups and Kremlin detractors celebrated the surprise victory of South Korean candidate Kim Jong Yang over his Russian rival, the vote highlighted flaws within Interpol that will not go away overnight. Now the pressure is on the boss Kim and Interpol daily, the Secretary General Juergen Stock, to repair them.

The White House has publicly spoken out against the candidacy of Kim's Russian rival, Alexander Prokopchuk. Following the election, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Kim Kim "right-handed to lead one of the most critical law enforcement agencies in the world as part of his mission to preserve the state. of law and to make the world safer. "

For Interpol, the vote avoided a possible collapse after some member countries were willing to leave the agency.

The vote shows that members "think very seriously about the question of whether they want to withdraw from this institution or ensure that it is working properly and fairly," said Jago Russell, head of Fair Trials International, which has championed and monitored Interpol's reform efforts.

Authoritarian governments have long sought to take advantage of the scope of Interpol – and in particular its system of "Red Notices" signaling the arrest of suspects wherever they go, for political purposes. Although he has tried to clean up this system, he remains vulnerable to pressure from powerful Member States: his last president has fainted in China as part of a possible political purge, under the watchful eye d & # 39; Interpol.

Stock, the secretary general, acknowledged that "the systems can be improved" but pointed out that Interpol's information-sharing systems led to the arrest of 10,000 serious criminals up to the date of the arrest. now this year. "For the existence of Interpol, it is fundamental that we are neutral and independent," he insisted.

It was a central argument for the United States and the governments of Europe and other countries that lobbied Russian security services veteran Prokopchuk. Western powers have warned that a Russian victory would have led to further abuses of Interpol by the Kremlin, seeking to take on political opponents and fugitive dissidents.

Russia has accused its critics of over-politicizing the vote and is campaigning to discredit Prokopchuk, calling him a respected professional. The Russian authorities were moderate in their response to the vote, which received little attention from the state-dominated media.

The South Korean government has described Kim's election as a "national triumph" that could elevate the country's international status. Kim obtained at least two-thirds of the votes cast at the Interpol General Assembly in Dubai, although the agency does not disclose how the member states voted.

It is unlikely, however, that the new president will make immediate changes. Kim had previously been acting president, and the president of Interpol has more of a supervisory role than an active role. Meanwhile, Prokopchuk will remain Vice President of Interpol.

But the monitoring groups say that there is no time to waste.

"Interpol has for too long traded on its image of James Bond, the good world that fights crime," said Russell of Fair Trials International. "This reputation must be supported by significant rules to prevent abuse. (…) I hope this vote will further focus attention on the need to do so."

Kim will remain in office until 2020, thus completing the four-year term of his predecessor, Meng Hongwei, detained in China as part of a major anti-corruption campaign in that country.

Based in Lyon, France, this 95-year-old police force is best known for its "red advisories" that identify suspects pursued by other countries, effectively placing them on a global list of "most wanted people." ".

Critics say countries like Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and China have used the system to try to bring together political opponents, journalists or activists. The rules of Interpol prohibit the use of police notices for political reasons, and the agency has tightened the rules to enforce it.

However, countries may issue requests – called "broadcasts" – stating that a wanted person must be stopped before Interpol reviews the notification, which critics say is a major loophole in the system.

"We accept the fact that systems can be improved and recognize that a very small number of non-compliant red notices can seriously affect the lives of innocent citizens," Stock said.

Bill Browder, who heads an investment fund that had already worked in Moscow, said Russia had used the broadcast system against him, which led to his brief arrest in Spain earlier this year.

Lawyers who defended the Interpol reform also welcomed the vote, as did Denis Krivosheev of Amnesty International, who said: "If the Russian law enforcement agencies engage in abusive practices, the country pays with his reputation, which reminds him cruelly, Russia counts a lot, and it is obviously very embarrassing. "

___

Charlton brought back from Paris. Associated press editors Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Danica Kirka in London also contributed.