Sandra Grossman’s article on INTERPOL abuse and the TRAP Act published in the Federalist Society Review.

January 10, 2020

Today, the Federalist Society published an article, co-authored by Sandra Grossman and Ted Bromund (The Heritage Foundation), regarding the abuse of INTERPOL, its extensive threat to human rights, and the importance of the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act to prevent and diminish this serious abuse of power.

Repressive regimes, particularly in Russia, China, Turkey, and Venezuela, use Interpol to issue illegitimate Red Notices and diffusions against political opponents. The effect of this abuse can be severe and infringes on the due process and human rights of those who fall victim. Interpol abuse subverts the legal sovereignty of the United States by allowing authoritarian regimes to use U.S. legal proceedings to define their political opponents as criminals, and then to punish these political opponents or even have them imprisoned in the United States.

To understand the problem of Interpol abuse, it is important to first understand what Interpol actually is. Hollywood portrays Interpol as an international police agency with the power to investigate crimes and make arrests around the globe. In reality, Interpol has no ability to conduct investigations or make arrests. In fact, Interpol’s constitution strictly prohibits it from any involvement in political, racial, religious, or military affairs. Interpol is akin to a bulletin board on which the world’s police forces can post their own, national wanted notices. 

The TRAP Act is framed as a response to the problem of transnational repression. It requires that the U.S. use its “voice, vote, and influence . . . within INTERPOL’s General Assembly and Executive Committee to . . . improv[e] the transparency of INTERPOL and ensur[e] its operation consistent with its Constitution.” While the TRAP Act does not address every kind of Interpol abuse, it makes a valuable contribution to shedding light on the issue. It also requires the U.S. to adopt processes to strengthen accountability and transparency within Interpol, thus limiting abuse at its source.

To read the complete article, click here.