Emirati General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi was elected this Thursday to the post at the organization’s assembly
Emirati General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, against whom there are complaints of “torture” in France and Turkey, was elected President of Interpol this Thursday in Istanbul, announced the International Criminal Police Organization. The Interpol statutes grant the president a primarily honorary role and the real person in charge is the secretary general, Jürgen Stock, re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term. However, organizations for the defense of human rights as well as European legislators had opposed the election of Al Raisi, considering that it would affect the mission of Interpol. His country, the United Arab Emirates, is the second contributor to this police cooperation organization.
The president of Interpol, appointed for four years, serves part-time and on an unpaid basis, and does so in his home country. Despite this, several observers expressed their concern about the arrival of Al Raisi to the presidency of the organization. “We are convinced that the election of General Al Raisi would affect the mission and reputation of Interpol (…)” wrote in mid-November to the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, three MEPs, including Marie Arena, president of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on Human Rights.
Accusations
Several complaints for “torture” against Al Raisi have been filed in recent months in France, where the organization is based, and in Turkey, the country that hosts the general assembly that has been held in Istanbul since Tuesday. The Gulf Center for Human Rights accused the Emirati general of “acts of torture and barbarism” against the opposition Ahmed Mansoor, detained since 2017 in a 4 m2 cell “without a mattress or protection against the cold”, nor “access to a medical, hygiene, water or sanitary facilities ».
In October 2020, 19 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), were already concerned about the possible election of the Emirati general, “a member of a security apparatus that systematically targets the peaceful opposition.”
A British report last March concluded that the Emirates had used the international search system to pressure opponents. Other countries are accused of similar practices.
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