INTERPOL Red Notice Abuse: Which Member Countries are the Primary Offenders?

During the past two years, INTERPOL has carried out important reforms.  It has expanded the rights of individuals who seek access to or deletion of information about them in the organization’s databases.  It has also made significant changes to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, the body responsible for adjudicating requests from such individuals, namely, its powers, organizational structure, staff qualifications requirements, and decision-making process. By carrying out these reforms, INTERPOL has addressed some of the most serious shortcomings in its mechanism established to protect individuals from governments that abuse the organization’s resources to persecute political opponents and other victims of unlawful criminal prosecutions.  The reforms should also help INTERPOL comply with the principle of neutrality enshrined in article 3 of its Constitution: “[i]t is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.”