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How Does Interpol Fight Crime?
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Because of the politically neutral role Interpol must play, its Constitution forbids any involvement in any political, military, religious, or racial crimes. Its work centers primarily on public safety and terrorism, organized crime, illicit drug production and drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, trafficking in human beings, money laundering, child pornography, financial and high-tech crime and corruption.
Interpol’s principal target is the international criminal, of which there are three main categories: those who operate in more than one country, such as smugglers, dealing mainly in gold and narcotics and other illicit drugs; criminals who do not travel at all but whose crimes affect (влиять) other countries- for example, a counterfeiter of foreign bank notes; and criminals who commit a crime in one country and flee to another. At its head guarders in Lyon, France, Interpol maintains a voluminous record of international criminals, their identities, associates, and methods of working, gathered from the police of the member countries. This information is sent over Interpol’s telecommunications network.
Each member country has its own Interpol office, or National Central Bureau (NCB), which is staffed by the national police force. These bureaus contact any foreign agency or government who wish to exchange or gather information on particular criminal activities.
Television and films have portrayed Interpol agents as wandering from country to country, making arrests wherever they please; such representations are false, since the nations of the word have varying legal systems and their criminal laws, practices, and procedures differ substantially from one another. No sovereign state would permit any outside body to bypass (обходить стороной) its police or not a universal detective; it is the extradition treaty (договор).
Interpol maintains a large database keeping unsolved crimes and both convicted and wanted criminals. At any time, a member nation has access to specific sections of the database and its police forces may check information held by Interpol whenever a major crime is committed.
· A representation of the globe indicates that Interpol’s activities are worldwide, olive branches either side of the globe symbolize peace, a vertical sword behind the globe represents police action, the olive branches symbolize justice.
· The flag has been in use since 1950:
- It has a light-blue background
- The emblem is in the centre
- The four lightning flashes arranged symmetrically around the emblem represent telecommunications and speed in police action.
True or false?
1. Interpol deals with all types of crimes.
2. The international criminal is Interpol’s principal target
3. Only some member countries have their own Interpol offices, or National
Central Bureaus (NCB)
4. Interpol agents wander from country, making arrests wherever they please.
5. The police officer of any National Central Bureau at time has access to
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specific sections of Interpol’s database.
a. Look through the text again and complete the sentences with a suitable word from the box.
| Telecommunications corruption, the national police force, money laundering, extradition, database, decisions, smugglers, organized crime, drug trafficking. |
Interpol’s work is focused on terrorism,…, …,.. and ….
1. National Central Bureau (NCB) is staffed by ….
2. The international criminals are those who operate in more than one country, such as ….
3. The information about all categories of international criminals is sent over Interpol’s … network.
4. The main weapon in the hands of Interpol is not a universal detective; it is the … treaty.
5. The General Assembly meets once a year and makes … regarding Interpol’s strategy and police.
6. Interpol maintains a large … keeping unsolved crimes and both convicted and wanted criminals.
Text №3
1. Read and translate the text with the help of a dictionary:
About Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), widely known as INTERPOL or Interpol, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation. It was established as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) in 1923 and adopted its telegraphic address as its common name in 1956.
Its membership of 190 countries provides finance of around?59 million through annual contributions. The organization's headquarters is in Lyon, France. It is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations, in terms of number of member states.
Its current Secretary-General is Ronald Noble, a former United States Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement. Its current President is Singapore's Senior Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and former Commissioner of Police Khoo Boon Hui; the President before that, Jackie Selebi, National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, held his term from 2004 till his resignation on 13 January 2008, after which he was charged in South Africa on three counts of corruption and one of defeating the course of justice, and replaced by Arturo Herrera Verdugo, current National Commissioner of Investigations Police of Chile and former vice president for the American Zone, who remained acting president until the organization meeting in October 2008.
In order to maintain as politically neutral a role as possible, Interpol's constitution forbids it to undertake any interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature. Its work focuses primarily on public safety, terrorism, organized crime, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, piracy, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption.
In 2008, the Interpol General Secretariat employed a staff of 588, representing 84 member countries. The Interpol public website received an average of 2.2 million page visits every month. Interpol issued 3,126 red notices for the year 2008 which led to the arrest of 718 people.
Despite its stance of political neutrality, the agency has been criticized for its role in some arrests which critics contend have been politically motivated, such as the arrest of Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari by Malaysian police on February 9, 2012 for allegedly insulting Muhammad and his subsequent deportation to Saudi Arabia on February 12, 2012, where he may face the death penalty over charges of apostasy due to these alleged insults. Interpol, however, later denied its involvement in the arrest, notwithstanding the Malaysian police's assertion to the contrary.
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History of Interpol
The first significant move towards creating INTERPOL was in 1914 at the First International Criminal Police Congress. Police officers, lawyers and magistrates from 14 countries gathered in Monaco to discuss arrest procedures, identification techniques, centralized international criminal records and extradition proceedings. However, World War I delayed this initiative and it was not until 1923 that Interpol was founded at the Second International Police Congress in Vienna as the International Criminal Police (ICP). Founding members were Poland, Austria, Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. The United States joined INTERPOL in 1923.
Following the Anschluss (Austria's annexation by Germany) in 1938, the organization fell under the control of Nazi Germany, and the Commission's headquarters were eventually moved to Berlin in 1942. From 1938 to 1945, the presidents of Interpol included Otto Steinhäusl, Reinhard Heydrich, Arthur Nebe, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. All were generals in the SS, and Kaltenbrunner was the highest ranking SS officer executed after the Nuremberg Trial.
After the end of World War II in 1945, the organization was revived as the International Criminal Police Organization by European Allies of World War II officials from Belgium, France, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Its new headquarters were established in Saint-Cloud, a town on the outskirts of Paris. They remained there until 1989, when they were moved to their present location, Lyon.
Until the 1980s Interpol did not intervene in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in accordance with Article 3 of its Constitution forbidding intervention in "political" matters.
On 2 July 2010, former Interpol President Jackie Selebi was found guilty of corruption by the South African High Court in Johannesburg for accepting bribes worth?156,000 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.
Constitution
The role of Interpol is defined by the general provisions of its constitution.
Article 2 states that its role is to
1. 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 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes.
Methodology
Interpol differs from most law-enforcement agencies — agents do not make arrests themselves, and there is no single Interpol jail where criminals are taken. The agency functions as an administrative liaison between the law-enforcement agencies of the member countries, providing communications and database assistance. This is vital when fighting international crime because language, cultural and bureaucratic differences can make it difficult for officers of different nations to work together. For example, if ICE and FBI special agents track a terrorist to Italy, they may not know whom to contact in the Polizia di Stato, if the Carabinieri have jurisdiction over some aspect of the case, or who in the Italian government needs to be notified of the ICE/FBI's involvement. ICE and FBI can contact the Interpol National Central Bureau in Italy, which will act as a liaison between the United States and Italian law-enforcement agencies.
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Interpol's databases help law enforcement see the big picture of international crime. While other agencies have their own extensive crime databases, the information rarely extends beyond one nation's borders. Interpol can track criminals and crime trends around the world. They maintain collections of fingerprints and mug shots, lists of wanted persons, DNA samples and travel documents. Their lost and stolen travel document database alone contains more than 12 million records. They also analyze all these data and release information on crime trends to the member countries.
A secure 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.
In the event of an international disaster, terrorist attack or assassination, Interpol can send an incident response team. This team 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 12 times in 2005. Interpol began issuing its own passport in 2009 with hopes that member states would remove visa requirements for individuals traveling for Interpol business, thereby improving response times.
Finances
In 2009 Interpol's income was?59 million, of which 82% comprised statutory contributions by member countries and 14% income from projects, private foundations and commercial enterprises. From 2004 to 2010 Interpol's external auditors have been the Cour des comptes.
Emblem
The current emblem of Interpol was adopted in 1950 and according to their website has the following symbolism:
- the globe indicates worldwide activity
- the olive branches represent peace
- the sword represents police action
- the scales signify justice
Fugitive investigations
Fugitives pose a serious threat to public safety worldwide. They are mobile (often travelling between countries on stolen or fraudulent travel documents), and opportunistic, frequently financing their continued flight from the law through further criminal activities.
Fugitives also undermine the world’s criminal justice systems. They may have been charged with a violation of the law but not been arrested. They may have been released on bail and then fled to avoid prosecution or perhaps they have escaped from prison. When fugitives flee, cases are not adjudicated, convicted criminals fail to meet their obligations, and crime victims are denied justice.
INTERPOL’s role
At INTERPOL, a dedicated Fugitive Investigative Support Unit provides proactive and systematic assistance to member countries and other international entities in order to locate and arrest fugitives who cross international boundaries. Its role is to:
- Provide investigative support to member countries in ongoing international fugitive investigations;
- Develop and implement focused initiatives such as Operation Infra-Red;
- Coordinate and enhance international cooperation in the field of fugitive investigations;
- Deliver training and conferences;
- Collate and disseminate best practice and expert knowledge;
Provide operational support for investigations into genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to INTERPOL member countries, UN tribunals and the International Criminal Court.
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