https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20211017/18562447767/interpol-has-been-weaponized-governments-seeking-to-hunt-down-critics-activists.shtml [ ] Techdirt. [ ] * Sign In * Register * Preferences [ ] Techdirt * Techdirt * Greenhouse * Tech & COVID * Free Speech * * Deals * Jobs * Support Techdirt [podcast-ti] New Study Indicates Recreational Screen Time For Kids Makes Very Little Difference T-Mobile, Dish Continue Petty Squabbles As Sprint Merger 'Solution' Looks Shaky Interpol Has Been Weaponized By Governments Seeking To Hunt Down Critics And Activists Legal Issues from the can-it-be-fixed? dept Thu, Oct 28th 2021 3:28am -- Tim Cushing Interpol has become a weapon. The international consortium of law enforcement does have a legitimate purpose. It's there to prevent people from escaping justice just because they've left the country where they've committed crimes. It's a worthy goal, but it's an easily abused mechanism. For instance, there's Turkey's government, which really wants to keep its top position on the "Most Journalists Jailed" list. It can't do this without the help of Interpol. In 2018, Turkey sent "red alert" notices to Interpol seeking journalists accused of whatever bullshit the government made up in hopes of having police forces in other nations round up the two self-exiled writers the government wanted to punish. The problem is ongoing. And it may be getting worse, according to this report from Josh Jacobs for The Guardian. Alongside the growth of [Interpol's] most-wanted list, international legal experts say there has also been an alarming phenomenon of countries using Interpol for political gain or revenge - targeting nationals abroad such as political rivals, critics, activists and refugees. It is not known how many of roughly 66,000 active red notices could be based on politically motivated charges; Interpol does not release data on how many red notices it rejects. But a number of reports, including from the US Congress, the European parliament and academics have documented the misuse of Interpol in recent years. Bromund says: "I don't think there's any dispute that [...] the number of abusive red notices is growing." Using Interpol's alert system to hunt down political opponents and critics violates Interpol's constitution. But constitutions get violated all the time (just look at ours!). But vetting is time-consuming and certain countries are more than willing to swamp the system in hopes of sneaking illegitimate requests through. And there are certain countries that abuse the process more than others. Russia alone generates nearly 40% of all public red notices, which have been used to target people the government wants to punish for reasons other than what's stated in the notice. Russia is also known to send more informal requests via another Interpol option called a "diffusion," which allows national governments to connect directly with each other with information about wanted fugitives. The breadth of abuse this allows hasn't been quantified but it leads to things like this: A less-formal Interpol option for hunting fugitives, called "diffusions", are often regarded as more vulnerable to misuse. Through these alerts, Interpol members can send arrest requests directly to each other. That is how Nikita Kulachenkov, a Russian-born Lithuanian refugee, spent several weeks imprisoned in Cyprus, after he was detained at the airport in 2016 en route to visit his mother. Kulachenkov faced a five-year prison term in Russia for allegedly stealing a street artist's drawing. His Interpol alert was issued after he began working on investigations for the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Russia, founded by the opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok last year and is now imprisoned in Russia. When governments straight up lie to Interpol, it can be difficult for Interpol's vetting staff to disprove allegations or suss out the real reason for the notice. Things get past the filtering system all the time, like the case of Turkmen human rights activist, Annadurdy Khadzhiev, who was detained in Bulgaria after a notice was issued accusing him of embezzling money from Turkmenistan's national bank. The problem was the accusations claimed the embezzlement took place four years after Khadzhiev had stopped working for the bank. The other problem is known abusers are still allowed to use the system. The report notes Interpol rejected more than 700 of Turkey's requests last year, and yet the country is still allowed to issue red alerts and diffusions. Known human rights horror show Syria has just had its access to Interpol reinstated, over the protests of several members. China is somehow in good standing despite using the system to hunt down Uighur activists who've left the country to avoid near-constant oppression by the government. Is there an upside? Yes, but it's limited given the number of countries with access to Interpol's system and the abuse that's been observed and documented over the years. Known bad actors are still being given access to the system, but hopefully the system is becoming better at weeding out bogus requests. Under [Secretary General Jurgen] Stock, Interpol has strengthened its oversight body - the commission for the control of Interpol's files (CCF), which reviews appeals and can delete red notices - and publishes more information about decisions on complaints. He has also bolstered the specialist squad that reviews notices before they are published. Critics have welcomed the changes, but some say the system is still not robust enough. Stock acknowledges that there is more work to be done. "I don't have the silver bullet at [this] stage for what else we can do," he says, but stresses that he is committed to further strengthening safeguards, where possible, during his final three years in the post. More needs to be done, but at least it's being helmed by a Secretary General who knows work needs to be done, and perhaps more importantly, has been open and direct about the challenges Interpol faces and where it has fallen short of its ideals. There are no easy answers when it comes to limiting abuse of the red alert system. Interpol could kick out rogue states, but that may just encourage more use of completely extrajudicial measures, like extraordinary rendition or sending state agents to straight up murder political opponents and government critics. At least with Interpol, there's a paper trail that can show how the system is being abused and who's behind politically motivated alerts. Hide this Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone's attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community. Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. 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Thank you. -The Techdirt Team Filed Under: activists, authoritarians, critics, interpol, journalists, law enforcement, red notices, russia, turkey 8 Comments | Leave a Comment If you liked this post, you may also be interested in... * Content Moderation Case Study: Linkedin Blocks Access To Journalist Profiles In China (2021) * Private Tech Companies Are Making Law Enforcement's Opacity Problem Even Worse * LinkedIn (Mostly) Exits China, Citing Escalating Demands For Censorship * The Surveillance And Privacy Concerns Of The Infrastructure Bill's Impaired Driving Sensors * Alabama Supreme Court Rules Law Enforcement Can Withhold Almost All Records Indefinitely Reader Comments Subscribe: RSS View by: Time | Thread * identicon Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2021 @ 4:29am Interpol is an idea so lunatic it seems impossible to understand how it came to be. How can anyone think it makes sense for a democratic country to arrest people on behalf of an Islamic dictatorship like Turkey? Why don't you give visas to Taliban to be patrol officers while you're at it??? The last line about how they might kidnap people instead -- is unworthy of this article. If dictatorships resort to kidnapping journalists on a routine basis, that is only grounds for more sanctions - like walling them off, stopping trade, and forgetting about them. If THAT doesn't work, maybe work out a deal to partition Turkey between Greece and Russia? [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] + identicon Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2021 @ 7:11am Re: How can anyone think it makes sense for a democratic country to arrest people on behalf of an Islamic dictatorship like Turkey? Because embezzlement, fraud, rape, and murder are considered anathema in both the democratic country and in the Islamic dictatorship. If you're a politician, how would you greet the headline, "Famed Turkish mass murderer allowed to roam free in London"? [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] o identicon Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2021 @ 8:22am Re: Re: If you're a politician, how would you greet the headline, "Famed Turkish mass murderer allowed to roam free in London"? While I would be pretty suprised that any London Newspaper was willing to actually say that about Erdogan, I'd feel obligated to warn them that he'll have them beaten if they get near him. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] * identicon me, 28 Oct 2021 @ 5:01am Interpol has become a joke It's also used by the UAE and others to track down try to extradite people who have credit card debt etc from western countries. It seldom gets these folks arrested and extradited, but they are routinely detained and hassled even in their own country fi they have no extradition treaty with the UAE, Turkey or whatever. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] * icon That One Guy (profile), 28 Oct 2021 @ 5:44am 'You lied the last 12 times but I'm sure #13 is legit' At least with Interpol, there's a paper trail that can show how the system is being abused and who's behind politically motivated alerts. Which I'm sure is of great comfort to those on the receiving end of that treatment. 'Yes you were harassed, falsely imprisoned and risked being sent back to a very unfriendly country but at least there's a record of it! It won't do you any good but hey, free papers.' At the point where a government is regularly weaponizing an agency like Interpol to go after political rivals and critics on it's behalf it is well past time for them to be given the benefit of the doubt, and while it may be unreasonable to cut them out of the loop entirely as there is a valid reason for the agency to exist any requests from a country/government like that needs to be treated as bogus until proven otherwise and given a lot more scrutiny before any action is taken. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] * identicon Glenn, 28 Oct 2021 @ 6:15am Easy fix: abuse the system, lose your membership--no more red notices from you. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] * icon That Anonymous Coward (profile), 28 Oct 2021 @ 7:46am Trust us we will never use this power like that!!! Humans... not smarter than a 5th grader. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] * icon ECA (profile), 28 Oct 2021 @ 12:22pm Another Police agency Never questioning orders. Above and beyond, and beyond, and beyond what they need to do. [ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ] Add Your Comment Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here [ ] [ ] [ ] Subscribe to the Techdirt Daily newsletter [ ] [ ] [this is for spambots] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment Options: * (*) Use markdown. ( ) Use plain text. * Make this the ( ) First Word or ( ) Last Word. (*) No thanks. ( get credits or sign in to see balance) * [ ] Remember name/email/url (set a cookie) [Submit] [Preview] Close Add A Reply Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? 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