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BEIJING /AFP
A top Chinese police official was elected president of Interpol on Thursday, setting off alarm bells among rights advocates over abuses and a lack of transparency within China’s legal system, as well as the potential misuse of the police organization to attack Beijing’s political opponents. Vice Public Security Minister Meng Hongwei was named as the first Chinese to hold the post at the organization’s general assembly on the Indonesian island of Bali, Interpol announced in a press release.
The Lyon, France-based International Criminal Police Organization has 190 member nations and has the power to issue “red notices.” It’s the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today. Interpol circulates those notices to member countries listing people who are wanted for extradition.
While Interpol’s charter officially bars it from undertaking “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character,” critics say some governments, primarily Russia and Iran, have abused the system to harass and detain opponents of their regimes. Interpol says it has a special vetting process to prevent that from happening.
Quoted in the Interpol release, Meng said he takes over at a time when the world is facing some of the most serious global public security challenges since World War II.
“Interpol, guided by the best set of principles and mechanisms to date, has made a significant contribution to promoting international police cooperation,” Meng was quoted as saying. “Interpol should continue to adhere to these principles and strategies, while further innovating our work mechanisms in order to adapt to the changing security situation we see today.”
Interpol’s president is a largely symbolic but still influential figure who heads its executive committee responsible for providing guidance and direction and implementing decisions made by its general assembly. Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock is the organization’s chief full-time official and heads the executive committee.
Meng, who takes over from Mireille Ballestrazzi of France for a four-year term, will assume his new duties immediately. His election comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping is seeking to give new momentum to his 4-year-old campaign against corruption, including a push to seek the return of former officials and other suspects who had fled abroad. China filed a list of 100 of its most-wanted suspects with Interpol in April 2014, about one third of whom have since been repatriated to face justice at home.