Interpol

The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO-INTERPOL; Organisation internationale de police criminelle), more commonly known as INTERPOL, is an that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. Headquartered in, it was founded in 1923 as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC); the name INTERPOL served as the agency's in 1946, and was chosen as its common name in 1956.

INTERPOL provides investigative support, expertise, and training to law enforcement worldwide in battling three major areas of :, , and. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including, , and production, , , and. The agency also helps coordinate cooperation among the world's law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks.

INTERPOL has an annual budget of around €113 million (US$ million), most of which is provided through annual contributions by its membership of police forces in 181 countries. Its day-to-day operations are carried out by the General Secretariat, which is staffed by both police and civilians and led by the Secretary General, currently, the former deputy head of Germany's. As of 2013, the General Secretariat employed a staff of 756, representing 100 member countries. The General Assembly, composed of all member countries, is the governing body, electing the Executive Committee and its President—currently of —to supervise the implementation of INTERPOL's policies and administration.

INTERPOL seeks to remain as as possible so as to fulfill its mandate; hence its  bars the organization from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters.

History
In the first part of the 20th century, several efforts were taken to formalize international police cooperation, but they initially failed. Among these efforts were the First International Criminal Police Congress in in 1914, and the International Police Conference in New York in 1922. The Monaco Congress failed because it was organized by legal experts and political officials, not by police professionals, while the New York Conference failed to attract international attention.

In 1923, a new initiative was taken at the International Criminal Police Congress in, where the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) was successfully founded as the direct forerunner of INTERPOL. Founding members included police officials from Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and. The United Kingdom joined in 1928. The United States did not join Interpol until 1938, although a US police officer unofficially attended the 1923 congress.

Following  in 1938, the organization fell under the control of, and the Commission's headquarters were eventually moved to in 1942. Most members withdrew their support during this period. From 1938 to 1945, the presidents of the ICPC included, , , and. All were generals in the, and Kaltenbrunner was the highest ranking SS officer executed after the.

After the end of, the organization was in 1946 revived as the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) by officials from Belgium, France, and the UK. Its new headquarters were established in Paris, then from 1967 in, a suburb of Paris. They remained there until 1989, when they were moved to their present location in Lyon.

Until the 1980s, INTERPOL did not intervene in the prosecution of in accordance with Article 3 of its, which prohibited intervention in "political" matters.

In July 2010, former INTERPOL President was found guilty of corruption by the  in Johannesburg for accepting bribes worth €156,000 ($0) from a drug trafficker. After being charged in January 2008, Selebi resigned as president of INTERPOL and was put on extended leave as National Police Commissioner of South Africa. He was temporarily replaced by, the National Commissioner of and former vice president for the American Zone, who remained acting president until the appointment of  in October 2008.

On 8 November 2012, the 81st General Assembly closed with the election of Deputy Central Director of the, , as the first female president of the organization.

In November 2016,, a politician from the People's Republic of China, was elected president during the 85th Interpol General Assembly, and was to serve in this capacity until 2020. At the end of September 2018, Meng was reported missing during a trip to China, after being "taken away" for questioning by "discipline authorities". Chinese police later confirmed that Meng had been arrested on charges of bribery as part of a national anti-corruption campaign. On 7 October 2018, INTERPOL announced that Meng had resigned his post with immediate effect and that the Presidency would be temporarily occupied by INTERPOL Senior Vice-President (Asia) of South Korea. On 21 November 2018, INTERPOL's General Assembly elected Kim to fill the remainder of Meng's term, in a controversial election which saw accusations that the other candidate, Vice President of Russia, had used INTERPOL notices to target critics of the Russian government.

Constitution
The role of INTERPOL is defined by the general provisions of its constitution.

Article 2 states that its role is: "# To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the.
 * 1) To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes."

Article 3 states: "It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."

Methodology
Contrary to frequent portrayals in popular culture, Interpol is not a enforcement agency and has no agents who are allowed to make arrests. Instead, it is an international organization that functions as a network of criminal law enforcement agencies from different countries. The organization thus functions as an administrative liaison among the law enforcement agencies of the member countries, providing communications and database assistance, assisted via the central headquarters in Lyon.

Interpol's collaborative form of cooperation is useful when fighting international crime because language, cultural and bureaucratic differences can make it difficult for police officials from different nations to work together. For example, if US (FBI)  track a terrorist to Italy, they may not know whom to contact in the, if the  have jurisdiction over some aspect of the case, or who in the Italian government must be notified of the FBI's involvement. The FBI can contact the Interpol National Central Bureau in Italy, which would act as a liaison between the US and Italian law enforcement agencies.

Interpol's databases at the Lyon headquarters can assist law enforcement in fighting international crime. While national agencies have their own extensive crime databases, the information rarely extends beyond one nation's borders. Interpol's databases can track criminals and crime trends around the world, specifically by means of authorized collections of fingerprints and face photos, lists of wanted persons, DNA samples, and travel documents. Interpol's lost and stolen travel document database alone contains more than 12 million records. Officials at the headquarters also analyze these data and release information on crime trends to the member countries.

An encrypted Internet-based worldwide communications network allows Interpol agents and member countries to contact each other at any time. Known as I-24/7, the network offers constant access to Interpol's databases. While the National Central Bureaus are the primary access sites to the network, some member countries have expanded it to key areas such as airports and border access points. Member countries can also access each other's criminal databases via the I-24/7 system.

Interpol issued 13,637 notices in 2013, of which 8,857 were s, compared to 4,596 in 2008 and 2,037 in 2003. , there are currently 52,880 valid notices in circulation.

In the event of an international disaster, terrorist attack, or assassination, Interpol can send an Incident Response Team (IRT). IRTs can offer a range of expertise and database access to assist with victim identification, suspect identification, and the dissemination of information to other nations' law enforcement agencies. In addition, at the request of local authorities, they can act as a central command and logistics operation to coordinate other law enforcement agencies involved in a case. Such teams were deployed eight times in 2013. Interpol began issuing in 2009 with hopes that nations would remove visa requirements for individuals traveling for Interpol business, thereby improving response times. In September 2017, the organization voted to accept and the  as members.

Finances
In 2013, Interpol's operating income was €78 million ($ million), of which 68 percent was contributed by member countries, mostly in the form of statutory contributions (67 percent) and 26 percent came from externally funded projects, private foundations, and commercial enterprises. Financial income and reimbursements made up the other six percent of the total. With the goal of enhancing the collaboration between Interpol and the private sector to support Interpol's missions, the Interpol Foundation for a Safer World was created in 2013. Although legally independent of Interpol, the relationship between the two is close enough for Interpol's president to obtain in 2015 the departure of CEO from the foundation board after the  allegations.

From 2004 to 2010, Interpol's was the French. In November 2010, the Court of Audit was replaced by the for a three-year term with an option for a further three years.

Criticism
Despite its politically neutral stance, some have criticized the agency for its role in arrests that critics contend were politically motivated. In the year 2008, the office of the pointed to the problem of arrests of refugees on the request of Interpol in connection with politically motivated charges. In their declaration, adopted in Oslo (2010), Monaco (2012), Istanbul (2013), and Baku (2014), the (PACE) criticized some OSCE member States for their abuse of mechanisms of the international investigation and urged them to support the reform of Interpol in order to avoid politically motivated prosecution. The Istanbul Declaration of the OSCE cited specific cases of such prosecution, including those of the Russian activist Petr Silaev, financier, businessman Ilya Katsnelson, Belarusian politician , and Ukrainian politician Bohdan Danylyshyn. The resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 31 January 2014 criticizes the mechanisms of operation of the Commission for the Control of Interpol's files, in particular, non-adversarial procedures and unjust decisions. In 2014, PACE adopted a decision to thoroughly analyse the problem of the abuse of Interpol and to compile a special report on this matter. In May 2015, within the framework of the preparation of the report, the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights organized a hearing, during which both representatives of NGOs and Interpol had the opportunity to speak.

Organizations, such as, , , , and , indicate that non-democratic states use Interpol in order to harass opposition politicians, journalists, human rights activists, and businessmen. According to them, countries that frequently abuse the Interpol system include: China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Tunisia.

The 's report analysed 44 high-profile political cases which went through the Interpol system. A number of persons who have been granted refugee status in the (EU) and the US, including: Russian businessman, Chechen Arbi Bugaev, Kazakh opposition politician  and his associate Artur Trofimov, and Sri Lankan journalist Chandima Withana continue to remain on the public Interpol list. Some of the refugees remain on the list of Interpol even after courts have refused to extradite them to a non-democratic state (for example, Pavel Zabelin, a witness in the case of, and Alexandr Pavlov, former security chief of the Kazakh oppositionist ).

Interpol has recognized some requests to include persons on the wanted list as politically motivated, e.g., Indonesian activist, Georgian politician , ex-president of Georgia , and ex-president of Honduras ; these persons have been removed from the wanted list. However, in most cases, Interpol removes a Red Notice against refugees only after an state closes a criminal case or declares  (for example, the cases of Russian activists and political refugees Petr Silaev, Denis Solopov, and Aleksey Makarov, as well as the Turkish sociologist and feminist ). The election of Meng Hongwei as president and, a Russian, as vice president of Interpol for Europe drew criticism in western media and raised fears of Interpol accepting politically motivated requests from China and Russia.

Refugees who are included in the list of Interpol can be arrested when crossing the border. The procedure for filing an appeal with Interpol is a long and complex one. For example, the Venezuelan journalist and a colleague of Kazakh activist Ablyazov, and Tatiana Paraskevich, who were granted refugee status, sought to overturn the politically motivated request for as long as one and a half years, and six months, respectively.

In 2013, Interpol was criticised over its multimillion-dollar deals with such private sector bodies as, , and the pharmaceutical industry. The criticism was mainly about the lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interest, such as. After the, the organization has severed ties with all the private-sector bodies that evoked such criticism, and has adopted a new and transparent financing framework.

In 2016, criticised Interpol for turning down their application to join the General Assembly as an observer. The US supports Taiwan's participation, and the passed legislation directing the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan.

According to a report by the that was issued on September 2017, Turkey has weaponized Interpol mechanisms to hunt down legitimate critics and opponents in violation of Interpol's own constitution. The report lists abuse cases where not only arrest warrants but also revocation of travel documents and passports were used by Turkey as. The harassment campaign targeted foreign companies as well.

On 25 July 2014, despite Interpol's Constitution prohibiting them from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political or military nature, the Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary leader was placed on Interpol's international wanted list at the request of Russian authorities, which made him the only person wanted internationally after the beginning of the  in 2014. For a long time, Interpol refused to place former  on the wanted list as a suspect by the new  for the mass killing of protesters during. Yanukovych was eventually placed on the wanted list on 12 January 2015. However, on 16 July 2015, after an intervention of Joseph Hage Aaronson, the British law firm hired by Yanukovych, the international arrest warrant against the former president of Ukraine was suspended pending further review. In December 2014, the (SBU) liquidated a sabotage and reconnaissance group that was led by a former agent of the Ukrainian Bureau of Interpol that also has family relations in the Ukrainian counter-intelligence agencies. In 2014, Russia made attempts to place Ukrainian politician and Ukrainian civic activist, subject to criminal persecution in Russia following his pro-Ukrainian art performance in Moscow, on the Interpol wanted list.

After the disappearance of, four American senators accused his presumptive successor, , of abusing Red Notices and compared his election to "putting a fox in charge of the henhouse". A statement posted by the and signed by other NGO's raised concerns about his ability to use his Interpol position to silence Russia's critics. Russian politicians criticised the US political activity and called it interference: "This is interference in the election process of sorts, in the election to an international organisation. What else can you call it? This is a vivid example." Russian Presidential spokesman said.

Reform
From 1–3 July 2015, Interpol organized a session of the Working Group on the Processing of Information, which was formed specifically in order to verify the mechanisms of information processing. The Working Group heard the recommendations of civil society as regards the reform of the international investigation system and promised to take them into account, in light of possible obstruction or refusal to file crime reports nationally.

The Open Dialog Foundation, a human rights organization, recommended that Interpol, in particular: create mechanism for the protection of rights of people having international refugee status; initiate closer cooperation of the Commission for the Control of Files with human rights NGOs and experts on asylum and extradition; enforce sanctions for violations of Interpol's rules; strengthen cooperation with NGOs, the UN, OSCE, the PACE, and the European Parliament.

proposed to create effective remedies for individuals who are wanted under a Red Notice on unfair charges; to penalize nations which frequently abuse the Interpol system; to ensure more transparency of Interpol's work.

The also created recommendations for Interpol, in particular to delete Red Notices and Diffusions for people who were granted refugee status according to  issued by their countries of origin, and to establish an independent body to review Red Notices on a regular basis.

Emblem
The current emblem of Interpol was adopted in 1950 and includes the following elements:
 * the globe indicates worldwide activity
 * the olive branches represent peace
 * the sword represents police action
 * the scales signify justice
 * the acronyms "OIPC" and "ICPO", representing the full name of the organization in both English and French.

Members
Membership, with acceptance date as well as the corresponding representative entity of the nation are as follows:

Afghanistan – October 2002

Albania – November 1991

Algeria – August 1963

Andorra – November 1987

Angola – October 1982

Antigua and Barbuda – October 1986

Argentina – June 1956

Armenia – November 1992

Aruba – November 1987

Australia – June 1956

Austria – June 1956

Azerbaijan – November 1992

Bahamas – October 1973

Bahrain – September 1972

Bangladesh – October 1976

Barbados – November 1981

Belarus – September 1993

Belgium – June 1956

Belize – November 1987

Benin – September 1962

Bhutan – September 2005

Bolivia – August 1963

Bosnia and Herzegovina – November 1992

Botswana – November 1980

Brazil – October 1986

Brunei – September 1984

Bulgaria – November 1989

Burkina Faso – September 1961

Burundi – October 1970

Cambodia – June 1956

Cameroon – September 1961

Canada – June 1956

Cape Verde – November 1989

Central African Republic – June 1965

Chad – September 1962

Chile – June 1956

China – September 1961

Colombia – June 1956

Comoros – October 1998

Republic of the Congo – September 1961

Democratic Republic of the Congo – August 1963

Costa Rica – June 1956

Côte d'Ivoire – September 1961

Croatia – November 1992

Cuba – June 1956

Curaçao – October 2011

Cyprus – September 1962

Czech Republic – September 1993

Denmark – June 1956

Djibouti – November 1980

Dominica – November 1981

Dominican Republic – June 1956

East Timor – October 2002

Ecuador – September 1962

Egypt – June 1956

El Salvador – December 1959

Equatorial Guinea – November 1980

Eritrea – November 1999

Estonia – November 1992

Eswatini – October 1975

Ethiopia – September 1958

Fiji – September 1971

Finland – June 1956

France – June 1956

Gabon – September 1961

Gambia – October 1986

Georgia – September 1993

Germany – June 1956

Ghana – September 1958

Greece – June 1956

Grenada – October 1986

Guatemala – June 1956

Guinea – September 1961

Guinea-Bissau – November 1992

Guyana – October 1968

Haiti – June 1957

Honduras – September 1974

Hungary – November 1981

Iceland – September 1971

India – June 1956, official liaison by

Indonesia – June 1956

Iran – June 1956

Iraq – September 1967

Ireland – June 1956

Israel – June 1956

Italy – June 1956

Jamaica – August 1963

Japan – June 1956

Jordan – June 1956

Kazakhstan – November 1992

Kenya – October 1968

Kiribati – November 2018

Kuwait – June 1965

Kyrgyzstan – October 1996

Laos – June 1957

Lebanon – June 1956

Latvia – November 1992

Lesotho – September 1971

Liberia – June 1956

Libya – June 1956

Liechtenstein – October 1960

Lithuania – November 1991

Luxembourg – June 1956

Madagascar – September 1961

Malawi – August 1966

Malaysia – September 1961

Maldives – September 1984

Mali – October 1969

Malta – September 1972

Marshall Islands – September 1990

Mauritania – September 1962

Mauritius – October 1969

Mexico – June 1956

Republic of Moldova – September 1994

Monaco – June 1956

Mongolia – November 1991

Montenegro – September 2006

Morocco – June 1957

Mozambique – November 1989

Myanmar – June 1956

Namibia – November 1992

Nauru – September 1971

Nepal – September 1967

Netherlands – June 1956

New Zealand – June 1956

Nicaragua – June 1965

Niger – September 1964

Nigeria – October 1960

North Macedonia – September 1993

Norway – June 1956

Oman – September 1972

Pakistan – June 1956

Palestine – September 2017

Panama – September 1958

Papua New Guinea – October 1976

Paraguay – September 1977

Peru – September 1962

Philippines – June 1956

Poland – September 1990

Portugal – June 1956

Qatar – September 1974

Romania – October 1973

Russia – September 1990

Rwanda – September 1974

Saint Kitts and Nevis – November 1987

Saint Lucia – October 1983

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – October 1985

Samoa – October 2009

Sao Tome and Principe – November 1988

Saudi Arabia – June 1956

San Marino – September 2006

Senegal – September 1961

Serbia – September 1956

Seychelles – September 1977

Sierra Leone – September 1962

Singapore – October 1968

Sint Maarten – October 2011

Slovakia – September 1993

Slovenia – November 1992

Solomon Islands – September 2017

Somalia – October 1975

South Africa – September 1993

South Korea – September 1964

South Sudan – October 2011

Spain – June 1956

Sri Lanka – June 1956

Sudan – June 1956

Suriname – June 1956

Sweden – June 1956

Switzerland – June 1956

Syria – June 1956

Tajikistan – October 2004

Tanzania – September 1962

Thailand – June 1956

Togo – October 1960

Tonga – September 1979

Trinidad and Tobago – September 1964

Tunisia – June 1957

Turkey – June 1956

Turkmenistan – September 2005

Uganda – August 1966

Ukraine – November 1992

United Arab Emirates – October 1973

United Kingdom – June 1956

United States – June 1956

Uruguay – June 1956

Uzbekistan – September 1994

Vanuatu – November 2018

Vatican City – October 2008

Venezuela – June 1956

Vietnam – November 1991

Yemen – October 1976

Zambia – August 1966

Zimbabwe – November 1980

Sub-bureaus
American Samoa

Anguilla

Bermuda

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Gibraltar

Hong Kong

Montserrat

Macau

Puerto Rico

Turks and Caicos Islands

United Nations for Kosovo

Partially recognized states and entities without membership or sub-bureau status
Abkhazia

Northern Cyprus

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

South Ossetia

Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Taiwan

Unrecognized states without membership or sub-bureau status
Artsakh

Somaliland

Transnistria

Offices
In addition to its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, Interpol maintains seven regional bureaus and three special representative offices:


 * , Argentina
 * , Belgium (special representative office to the )
 * , Cameroon
 * , Côte d'Ivoire
 * , El Salvador
 * , Ethiopia (special representative office to the )
 * , Kenya
 * , Thailand
 * , United States (special representative office to the )
 * , Zimbabwe

Interpol's Command and Coordination Centres offer a 24-hour point of contact for national police forces seeking urgent information or facing a crisis. The original is in Lyon with a second in Buenos Aires added in September 2011. A third was opened in Singapore in September 2014.

Interpol opened a Special Representative Office to the UN in New York City in 2004 and to the EU in Brussels in 2009.

The organization has constructed the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore to act as its facility, and a place of cooperation on digital crimes investigations. It was officially opened in April 2015, but had already become active beforehand. Most notably, a worldwide takedown of the SIMDA botnet infrastructure was coordinated and executed from IGCI's Cyber Fusion Centre in the weeks before the opening, as was revealed at the launch event.

Secretaries-general and presidents
Secretaries-general since organization's inception in 1923:

Presidents since organization's inception in 1923: