Interpol positions itself as an independent organization which does not interfere in political cases of member countries. But, sometimes it becomes a tool of illegal persecutions. Some countries successfully use the powers of interpol red notice law firms not to look for offenders but to take revenge on politically-undesired people.
In this article, you will find out how to protect the client from political persecutions and risks of extradition.
Why Interpol Can “Turn a Blind Eye” to Political Motives for Persecutions
International police was established to support the mutual assistance between all of the bodies of criminal police to outrun and stop criminality. This activity has to be performed only in terms of laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even more, Interpol is directly prohibited to interfere in cases of political, military, religious and racial characters.
This sounds amazing and fair but this is only a theory. Why then, in practice, Interpol, involuntarily, helps to persecute people based on political motives?
We think, the reason has several components:
- Interpol does not have investigative and operational staff. Where there is a search notice issued, the organization does not perform its own investigation;
- Before including the person to the international search database, Interpol only evaluates if there is enough information regarding the participation of a person in a certain crime;
- Interpol does not check the credibility and quality of proofs or the presence of political motives from the country that issued the notice.
On the one hand, including a client to the search database is not automatic. This question is reviewed and decided by the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files. On the other hand, this structure does not perform full investigation. It only formally reviews the request for correspondence to the Interpol Constitution. Don’t hope that Interpol will investigate and properly review all of the nuances of your client’s case.
Let’s remind you of the case when the Ukrainian activist and volunteer of ATO Igor Mazur was included to the Interpol search database upon request of Russia. Because of this, he was arrested in Poland to solve the extradition matter. The Russian side incriminated his participation in military actions in Chechnya in the 1990s.
Everyone understood that the case had only political character. If it’s not, why then the Eastern neighbor only now decided to recall the alleged participation of Mazur in the war in Chechnya? This fact didn’t stop Interpol from performing the Russia request and including the Ukrainian to the search list.
In What Cases Interpol Refuses in Search Based on Political Motives
Ideally, the decision to include the client to the search database should be agreed to the Article 3 of Interpol Constitution. It means that it does not have to have political, military, religious or racial motives. This should be reviewed by the Commission.
In the Article 34 of the Interpol Statute there are certain criteria attached which can help to determine if the decision on search corresponds to the Constitution, and if there is any political or another context in it.
To do this, Interpol have to decide:
- the character of a crime – what the client of accused of and what are the proofs;
- the status of a person – if he is a refugee or not, etc.;
- identification of the data source in this case;
- the position of other national central bureaus or international bodies;
- obligations on international law;
- consequences which this decision will make for neutrality of Interpol;
- the general context of the case.
As you may see, some criteria are quite subjective, and can be explained in different ways. That is why, the Commission has to evaluate all the facts together and implement the predominance test. As a result, it needs to decide what dominates in this case: politics or justice. And what is the goal for the country to search for a person: to make things right or to take revenge on the politically-undesired person.
If the political context is a dominant one, then the person is not included in the search list. For example, precisely because of this, Interpol rejected the request of Russia to put Igor Kolomoisky in the international search list.
How the Lawyer Can Protect the Client from Political Persecutions Involving Interpol
The task of a lawyer in such cases is to highlight the political character of a case for Interpol bodies. You should remember that the initiating country will give limited information to the Interpol. Probably, these are going to be only statements that will prove your client is guilty.
So, you need to expand the plot of the case. You need to pay attention to the facts that prove the political motives of persecutions:
- If your client is an activist or a public figure, give proof of his activity. For example, the documents on participation in a party, photos and videos from meetings, articles in the press, etc.;
- If the person is not involved in politics, give proof of his connection to the political people: oppositioners, public figures, activists. These can be shared projects, interviews, public events, etc.
In our practice, there was one illustrative case. The client, owner of a media holding carelessly supported an oppositioner. After this, taxation authorities made a mass atack on his business. Client was inappropriately accused of tax evasion and bribes to close the case.
The person had to run away from the country. But, “homeland did not allow this”. The law enforcement officers were demanding to include the client to the Interpol search database for further extradition. Fortunately, we managed to prove political motives and free the client from persecutions.
Sometimes the politics is hidden where it is very hard to spot it in the first place. Especially, if your client is not directly linked to the public and political life. But, it does not exclude the general political context of the case. And it also needs to be proved.
One of the CIS countries was persecuting an ordinary real estate developer because of accusation is fraud. He built an apartment complex, which was further judicially legalized. The district administration authorities did not like this. They made a whole media campaign and put pressure on the court which was taking the decision on legalizing personal buildings. The client had to leave the country because of the criminal intrusion danger. During the following months we were trying to avoid him being included in the Interpol databases.
Though Interpol is trying to stay neutral, it is not always manageable. So, don’t hope that in your case the Commission will spot the political context in the case and make the fair decision by itself. Even if the correspondence to the politics seems clear, gather and provide all the possible proofs of a political context.
