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Interpol supposed to chase criminals across borders is being used by some countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Russia and Venezuela to punish political dissenters and opponents, a new investigation done by a Washington-based journalists’ consortium finds.
“What our investigation found is that Interpol’s Red Notice system is being abused by regimes like Iran and Venezuela, which use it to round up political opponents,” said Marina Walker Guevara, deputy director at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The investigation which includes case studies from a number of countries also shows how the international police agency remains unaccountable to any deep scrutiny. ICIJ found “Interpol’s operations for dealing with political cases lack transparency, and there is no system for outside oversight or accountability.”
Interpol, it says, helps police hunt down murderers, war criminals, child sex offenders and wildlife poachers across borders. “But the global law enforcement organisation is also being used to pursue political opponents of regimes in countries like Iran and Venezuela,” it claims.
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