Weaponizing Interpol

Going after the family: Transnational repression and the proxy punishment of Middle Eastern diasporas

“…Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, regional alliances and security cooperation agreements between states have facilitated the capture of lawful dissidents in the name of so‐called war on terror. Regimes exploit the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), using it to unlawfully apprehend and extradite political opponents, asylum seekers, and refugees (Cooley, 2015; Lemon, 2019; de Goede & Sullivan, 2015). The proliferation of surveillance technology has further stimulated these practices.…”

“…For example, after Abdul Rahman Al‐Saleh, a member of the Syrian opposition‐in‐exile in Germany, accused the Assad regime of corruption on Al‐Jazeera in 2020, regime forces arrested his family in Syria, adding them to the growing list of detained and disappeared relatives of opponents abroad (New Arab, 2020). Research published over the past five 5 notes that a range of regimes from the Middle Eastern region, Asia, and Africa are actively exploiting transnational family ties to exert control among their populations abroad (Amnesty International, 2017, 2020; Adamson & Tsourapas, 2020; Hirt & Mohamed, 2018; Human Rights Watch, 2019a, 2019b; Lemon, 2019; Lemon et al., 2017). Despite the importance of this phenomenon, however, the forms and effects of proxy punishment remain curiously understudied.…”

Transnational policing between national political regimes and human rights norms: The case of the Interpol Red Notice system

“…Moreover, the Turkish government's repression of its opponents is not limited to those residing within the country's borders. In addition to managing to consolidate a state of authoritarian rule at home, the government escalated its extraterritorial operations in efforts to pursue regime opponents abroad through a campaign of abductions, extraordinary renditions, mobility controls and the misuse of certain Interpol mechanisms (Apuzzo, 2019; Russell, 2018; San, 2021; Schenkkan and Linzer, 2021; Stockholm Center for Freedom, 2017; Topcu, 2019). Several sources, including a recent report published by the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, have cited Turkey to be among the most prolific abusers of the Interpol system, together with Russia, China and the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Farivar, 2019; Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 2017).…”

Cooperation with International Law Enforcement Organisations: examples of the Russian and Hungarian Polices

“…Különösen akkor, ha az elrendelő más államok által is prioritásként kezelt súlyos bűnügyi szegmensbe tartozónak, például terrorizmusnak vagy szervezett bűnözésnek igyekszik tálalni a konkrét esetet. Vannak szerzők, akik egyenesen az Interpol képességeinek fegyverként történő felhasználásáról beszélnek, amelyeket politikai rezsimek politikai ellenfeleivel való leszámolásra próbálnak felhasználni (Lemon, 2019).…”