Irish Examiner view: Interpol chief controversy damages its international reputation

According to The Wall Street Journal, human rights groups already question Interpol’s governance, saying that authoritarian regimes use it to pursue political targets.  File picture: Du Yu/Xinhua via AP

The election of an Emirati general accused of torture as president of Interpol, the global police agency, is a blow to the moral authority of its constituent police and security forces — including An Garda Síochána, as Ireland is one of the founding members of the organisation. 

While never proven, there is credible evidence of criminal behaviour perpetrated by Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates who has been elected to the post of president for a four-year term.

Al-Raisi has criminal complaints against him in five countries, including in France, where Interpol has its headquarters, and in Turkey, where the election took place.

Although he will take on a largely ceremonial and voluntary role, his election drew angry responses from human rights organisations and those who said they were tortured by his security forces. 

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, an activist with the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, warned that al-Raisi’s election “represents the beginning of a dangerous era, with authoritarian regimes now able to dictate international policing”.

Matthew Hedges, a British student who was imprisoned in the UAE for nearly seven months in 2018 on spying charges, says he was subjected to torture.

According to The Wall Street Journal, human rights groups already question Interpol’s governance, saying that authoritarian regimes use it to pursue political targets. 

The election of Al-Raisi damages its international reputation further.