India and the INTERPOL Assembly- Key Takeaways
From 18-21 October, New Delhi hosted the 90th General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), whose secretariat is based in Lyon, France. The meeting comes amid the eve of the centenary year for the organization in 2023, marking 100 years of policing and cooperation in tackling new and evolved threats. For almost a century, law enforcement agencies have adapted to multiple challenges including spies, money laundering, and transnational organized crime. Even amid the pandemic when the world moved behind a screen, so did crime. The criminal groups have conquered the digital space using cryptocurrencies, cybercrime, and other forms of digital crimes.
Interpol, or the International Criminal Police Organization, was founded in 1923 and has 195 member nations. It aids police forces in all these countries to better coordinate their actions. Each member nation of Interpol has a National Central Bureau (NCB), which serves as the main point of contact. Each NCB is managed by local police officials and is typically housed in the government ministry in charge of policing, which in the Indian case is the Ministry of Home Affairs. The organization manages 19 police databases that are managed by Interpol and are available in real-time to countries. These databases contain information on crimes and criminals, ranging from names and fingerprints to stolen passports. It also provides investigative support services like forensics, analysis, and assistance in tracking fugitives around the globe. The organization also runs a service known as I-24/7, which is a Global Police Communications System that offers a single platform for the police organizations of the member countries to transmit sensitive and urgent police information with one another.
Hits and Misses
The 90th General Assembly was successful in recognising and charting out a path for the future of policing. Adapting to emerging technologies, the organization unveiled the first ever Metaverse for the law enforcement agencies with an aim to connect police officers from all over the world in a virtual representation of Interpol's Lyon headquarters [1]. They can engage in a variety of immersive training exercises there for various police work, such as forensic investigation. The organization had earlier recognised the existence of Metaverse as a space for providing new kinds of cybercrime and allowing existing crime to take place on a larger scale [2].
The organisation also released the first edition of the INTERPOL Global Crime Trend Report 2022 (IGCTR) highlighting the ‘current and emerging crime and terrorism trends’ [3]. The report revealed that each of the five crime types- organised crime, terrorism, cybercrime, financial crime, and illicit trafficking- has endured or escalated in all regions. Some notable trends included Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) ranking among the top ten crime trends perceived to pose a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ threat by member countries, 0 fold increase in extreme far-right terrorism in North American, European and Asia-Pacific member countries, and money laundering in particular remained one of the top risks among other financial crimes. After four days of deliberation and discussion, the delegates endorsed a resolution calling for more action to combat financial crime and corruption in order to address these crimes [4]. In order to analyze potential solutions for the sharing of financial data and the tracking down and recovery of property obtained illegally, a working group of specialists would need to be established. The assembly also discussed I-Familia, the product of cutting-edge scientific research, which seeks to identify missing persons or unidentified human remains by using DNA samples from family members.
However, the assembly was criticized for not inviting Taiwan as a participating member-state. The island-nation had to withdraw in 1984 due to political factors but had applied for observer status in subsequent years. This year, the Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock denied the possibility of granting observer status to Taiwan because it sees Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) [5]. Taiwan’s Commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Liu Po-liang, said that “Interpol requires Taiwan to ensure a comprehensive security network” and that its exclusion “creates a major loophole in the global security and counterterrorism network” [6].
What it means for India
India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been appointed as the primary point of contact for communications with Interpol. In the subregions of South and Southeast Asia, the report found that environmental crimes, including trafficking in wildlife, fisheries, and forestry crimes. Ransomware was also the crime trend that most countries in the region expect to ‘increase’ or ‘increase significantly’ in the future [7]. The report cautioned that South Asia is the sub-region most impacted by terrorism in the world. Another such report Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2022 mentioned that the South Asia recording 1,829 terrorism-related deaths in 2021 out of 7142 where the deadliest attack of 2021 was the suicide bombing attack at the Kabul International Airport in August, which killed 170 people [8].
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the assembly called attention to the emerging threats faced by India and the world [9]. First, he called the Interpol to expedite process of issuing red notice against fugitive offenders adding that there can be no safe havens for the corrupt, terrorists, drug cartels, poaching gangs or organised crime. Second, the platform provided an opportunity to showcase best practices in India’s law and order system to the entire world including managing law and order during the world’s largest free and fair elections and during festivals which attracts millions of pilgrims like the Kumbh Mela.
Meanwhile, India also hosted the third No Money for Terror (NMFT) conference on November 18-19 and the United Nations (UN) Security Council’s special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on 28-29 October, showcasing its commitment towards building a global discourse on terrorism. Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah’s proposal to set up a permanent international secretariat of the NMFT in India displayed that the country was no longer at the backseat but was ready to shape global outcomes. At a particularly challenging time for India with the removal of Pakistan from FATF’s ‘grey list’ and rise of Taliban in Afghanistan, a “uniform, unified and zero-tolerance approach” is necessary for the world to tackle cross-border crimes and terrorism.
References:
[2]https://www.reuters.com/technology/interpol-says-metaverse-opens-up-new-world-cybercrime-2022-10-27/
[6]https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/interpol-is-not-complete-without-taiwans-participation/
[8]https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/GTI-2022-web-04112022.pdf
Pic Courtsey-Fabien Maurin at unspalsh.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
