Through Interpol: How Does the UAE Enable Assad to Track His Citizens?

The Syrian regime continues to solidify its ties with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) since its readmission on September 30, 2021.

In a meeting that raised suspicion, Syrian Minister of Interior Mohammad al-Rahmoun discussed "mutual interests" with Interpol's President, UAE General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, as reported by the state-run newspaper Al-Watan.

The meeting took place in the Tunisian capital during al-Rahmoun's leadership of the Syrian regime delegation to attend the forty-first session of the Arab Interior Ministers' Council on February 26, 2024.

The UAE has a poor record of human rights violations, including the pursuit and arrest of activists, with al-Raisi himself implicated in such violations as a senior state officer involved in torture within prisons.

Coming from the depths of the Syrian intelligence apparatus, al-Rahmoun assumed this position in 2018, with a notorious record of torturing Syrian detainees severely within prison cells, being directly responsible for massacres witnessed in Damascus countryside prisons.

A Security Game

Syrian rights activists affirm that Arab states show significant interest in collaborating with the Syrian regime on criminal matters due to the influx of citizens belonging to these states into Syria following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011.

In return, the Syrian regime seeks to monitor Syrian nationals who have settled in those countries, especially at present following its readmission to the Arab League in May 2023, by securing official documents or transit documents for those wishing to return to Syria from refugee or neighboring countries.

A Syrian regime official previously confirmed that any Syrian citizen wishing to settle their security status and return to Syria can arrange this through Interpol.

This indicates the Syrian regime's hastened steps toward improving its relationship with the International Criminal Police Organization to expand communication and exchange criminal information with countries that still sever ties with it, especially European countries where nearly one and a half million Syrian refugees reside.

Correspondence with Interpol's police branch in the Ministry of Interior affiliated with the Syrian regime to those countries is not direct but through the organization due to the absence of direct relations, representing a feasible line in criminal practices.

Syria cannot issue international arrest warrants through Interpol; rather, member states, including Syria, can request the General Secretariat of the international organization to issue a "red notice." Therefore, legal experts in international law indicate that political pursuits remain far-fetched for the Assad regime.

The Assad regime recognizes that al-Raisi's leadership of Interpol, as an officer hailing from the UAE, could assist in matters related to the international organization.

Especially as the UAE's foreign policy took a sharp turn beginning with the reopening of its embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in late 2018. Since then, Abu Dhabi has openly engaged with the Syrian regime, given the Gulf state's historical proximity to Assad rather than the Syrian opposition.

In this context, Syrian lawyer and human rights defender, Abdel Nasser Hoshan stated, "The UAE is among the supportive countries of the Assad regime politically and financially, and bilateral judicial cooperation agreements bind them; they are parties to the Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation and Extradition of Criminals and participants in Interpol."

In his interview with Al-Estiklal, he said, "All these agreements impose on them the obligation to comply with the provisions therein, but generally, these agreements prohibit the extradition of individuals accused of political crimes.

"Yet, true to form, the Syrian regime resorts to labeling individuals it wishes to detain or extradite as terrorists or financiers thereof, posing a threat to anyone opposing the regime and residing in the UAE."

After suspending Syria's membership in Interpol from 2012 until 2021 due to the brutal repression by the Assad regime against Syrians following the outbreak of the revolution, Syria's readmission to the organization became a direct challenge to the latter regarding its adherence to international law and human rights.

Human Rights Concern

The meeting between al-Raisi and al-Rahmoun contradicts the principles of this institution, especially in light of the Syrian regime's commission of war crimes and other crimes against humanity in the past, which prompted the suspension of Syria's membership in Interpol.

Previously, the credibility of Interpol became a source of concern for some time because issuing Red Notices by this agency regarding committed crimes, which requires cooperation with police forces in various countries, faced criticism due to the misuse by authoritarian regimes, including Russia, China, and others.

Within this framework, The Times went on to say in a report published on March 21, 2024, that the controversy surrounding al-Raisi's meeting with the Syrian regime minister underscores the urgent need for reforms within Interpol.

The newspaper sheds light on the credibility of this organization and the difficulty of preventing authoritarian regimes from exploiting it, which undermines international law and countries' commitment to human rights.

For Interpol to maintain its integrity, it must undergo reforms that ensure its commitment to justice, transparency, and the protection of human rights, freeing it from the influence of oppressive regimes that exert pressure on it unjustly, the report said.

Further, Interpol must establish clear and transparent procedures for conducting comprehensive security assessments of member countries and their officials, according to the same report.

Without these reforms, trust in Interpol's operations becomes compromised to a degree where any corrective action becomes challenging. This not only damages its credibility but also underscores broader implications of its decisions, emphasizing the necessity of adherence to principles of human rights and justice.

Al-Raisi was elected president of Interpol in 2021 despite allegations of torture practices against him.

At that time, the Human Rights Watch organization saw al-Raisi's nomination as a "danger signal for human rights" that could jeopardize Interpol's human rights commitments.

Several international organizations have filed complaints accusing al-Raisi of involvement in torture and enforced disappearances within UAE prisons, even pursuing opposition figures abroad.

Even at the outset of al-Raisi's candidacy for the Interpol presidency, there were significant objections. In October 2020, 19 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, expressed concern over his selection, stating that he was "a member of a security apparatus that systematically targets peaceful opposition."

Present Concerns

This intertwines with concerns raised by legal experts and Syrian opposition figures about the Assad regime exploiting Interpol's decision to reinstate its membership. They point out that this would give the regime the right to pursue Syrian dissidents in host countries without any constraints.

In early March 2021, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, a UN body, confirmed that the Assad regime had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians over the past ten years.

The UN report documented Assad regime crimes against its people, indicating that many of the disappeared individuals had likely died or been executed, while others were being held in inhumane conditions. The report emphasized instances of torture, rape, and murder against detainees.

The fears and questions revolve around the possibility of countries accepting the extradition of individuals to the Syrian regime based on Interpol Red Notices.

This could be an attempt to tighten the grip on refugees and compel countries to abandon their asylum, especially since Interpol lacks the authority to compel countries to extradite individuals to other states.

In mid-November 2021, a joint statement by the Syrian Network for Human Rights and 19 other Syrian organizations and bodies working on Syrian affairs warned against the misuse of the regime's membership with Interpol. They cautioned about the potential issuance of international arrest warrants for political rather than criminal reasons.

The statement indicated that the regime's security authorities would use the Red Notices to pursue political opponents, refugees, journalists, humanitarian workers, or families of forcibly disappeared individuals residing in other countries.

According to the statement, this move would negatively affect refugees and new asylum seekers, as the dissemination of Syrians' names through notices, along with the regime's direct communication with countries, would serve as a legal impediment for immigration authorities to grant them asylum or renew their expired permits.

It could also serve as a pretext for some countries to forcibly return refugees and surrender them to the regime's security authorities.

Interpol bears the motto "Connecting Police for a Safer World" and aims to exchange information among police agencies worldwide to pursue and extradite criminals according to legal procedures.

It works to combat organized crime, drug trafficking, financial crime related to advanced technology, public security breaches, terrorism, human trafficking, and the pursuit of fugitives from justice.

There are eight types of notices issued by Interpol: Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, Green, Orange, Purple, and Special Notices from the United Nations Security Council.