LA Times Quotes Sandra Grossman on INTERPOL Abuse Case

The Los Angeles Times published an article last week detailing the case of a Guatemalan pastor, Hugo Gomez, who has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2019 based on an unsubstantiated Red Notice. The article uses this case to shed light on the little-known but troubling situation of INTERPOL Abuse. Unfortunately, situations like Gomez’ are all too common. Autocratic, corrupt or unstable governments sometimes use INTERPOL’s system to issue Red Notices for people they see as in conflict with their regimes, such as political dissidents, activists, business tycoons, etc. In the U.S. ICE often treats these Red Notices as arrest warrants, even though INTERPOL clearly states in its constitution that a Red Notice alone is not grounds for an arrest. Partner, Sandra Grossman, was quoted by the LA Times stating, 

“Using red notices for predominantly political, military, racial or religious reasons is against Interpol’s constitution. But some countries, including Russia, Venezuela and China, are known for deploying red notices against political opponents who flee persecution,”… “ICE does their bidding for them by putting these individuals into deportation proceedings.”