TOPIC 14. Interpol and its struggle against international crimes. 2013

Interpol is the more common name for the International Criminal Police Organization. The idea of the organization appeared in 1914. The WW I broke the preparatory work and only in 1923 the International Criminal Police Commission was founded. It received its present name in 1956. Interpol’s membership nowadays is about 180 countries.

The aim of Interpol is to create a safer world by preventing, detecting and suppressing crime. It provides a range of services for the law enforcement community. The most important service is the exchange of information. Interpol collects and analyses the information and sends it to member states. Interpol also facilitates the cooperation between law enforcement structures. It spreads the experience and new technologies in crime prevention, detecting and suppressing. Interpol also coordinates international police operations.

Structurally, Interpol consists of five elements: the General Assembly, the Executive Committee, the General Secretariat, Advisers, and National Central Bureaus.

The General Assembly is the organization's supreme governing body. It is composed of delegates from each member country. It has meeting once a year. It takes all important decisions related to policy, working methods, finances, and activities.

The Executive Committee is elected by the General Assembly, there are 13 members: the president, three vice-presidents and nine delegates. They represent different Interpol regions. The Executive Committee supervises the execution of the decisions of the General Assembly. It also supervises the administration and work of the Secretary General.

TheGeneral Secretariat comprises the Secretary General and administrative staff. It organizes the work of Interpol.

Advisers are experts in different areas who are appointed by the Executive Committee.

Each member state maintains National Central Bureau (NCB). These are Interpol offices or points of contact between national law enforcement and Interpol services.

For administrative purposes, Interpol groups its member countries into four regions: Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Interpol works in various areas of law infringement. They are terrorism, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, human trafficking, works of arts crime, drug control, financial crimes and so on.

Perhaps the most important area of Interpol’s concern is terrorism. A special body has been created within Interpol - the Public Safety and Terrorism Sub-Directorate. This Sub-Directorate deals with terrorism and related crimes: firearms, explosives, treats against civil aviation, maritime piracy and weapons of mass destruction. As in any other area the role of Interpol is informational management: it collects, analyses, distributes information and works out recommendations.

Interpol makes a list of internationally ‘wanted’ criminals, so-called ‘Red Notice’. An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. These persons are wanted by national jurisdictions. Interpol's role is to assist the national police forces in identifying or locating those persons.

Trafficking in people is considered one of the top priorities at Interpol. Criminal organizations are directly involved into this crime and obtain enormous profits, comparable with profits from drugs and arms smuggling. In this sphere Interpol concentrates its activities in two main directions: detecting and informing. First of all Interpol collects information about people suspected in people smuggling. It also collects samples of documents used to cross borders illegally. Interpol studies the methods of recruitment, transportation of victims, and the routes of transportation. The second direction of activities in this area is providing information for common public to reduce the number of potential victims of this crime.

To counteract drug trafficking Interpol has a special structure - the Criminal Organizations and Drug Sub-Directorate. It is the central repository of professional and technical expertise in drug control. It acts as a clearing-house for the collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of drug-related information. It also monitors the drug situation on global scale, co-ordinates international investigations, and maintains liaison with the United Nations, international and regional organizations.

Interpol is a powerful means of struggle against financial crimes such as frauds, counterfeit currency and money laundering.

Generally speaking Interpol today perhaps is the most effective international tool to counteract crime. The role of Interpol is supposed to grow, because with the process of globalization criminal structures also seem to work on the global scale. The analyses of information provided by Interpol makes it possible to spot the centers of criminal activities and identify the links between the separate crimes, which are not seen locally.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1042