When Interpol Comes Calling…™
The way that the investigation of international crimes work is based in part on negotiated bilateral or multilateral agreements between nations, courts, organizations, and intelligence operations like Interpol or Europol. However, each investigation is unique and driven in its particulars in part by the needs of each particular case.
Interpol is dedicated to providing criminal intelligence and communications support to national criminal justice systems. It does not have the authorization to arrest suspects or to take executory action without the authorization of a state magistrate or national official at the Ministry level or higher. When issued with appropriate authorization, one of the most powerful and well-recognized tools in the Interpol system is the Red Notice.
International Criminal Courts and Mutual Assistance
International criminal courts have no physical jurisdiction, but rather base their jurisdiction on personal, temporal, territorial, and subject matter qualifications. One consequence is that international criminal courts have no independent sovereign or police powers.
The new International Criminal Court, like its predecessor ad hoc tribunals—the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)—lacks its own enforcement structure. In the early days of the ICTY and ICTR, indicted individuals either surrendered to the court or were arrested by the U.N.-based security forces. Today, these international criminal courts often use the assistance of Interpol and Europol.
In March 2005, the ICC entered into a special CoOperation Agreement with Interpol to contribute an enforcement component for the Court. The ICC now has independent authorization to request Interpol assistance with its investigations into international crimes, to share intelligence realized from its own investigations, and to request the assistance of national police forces through the issuance of Interpol Red Notices.
International Police Power
In spite of recent agreements to provide assistance in investigations involving international crimes, Interpol deals primarily with transnational crimes—crimes that occur in two or more (member) countries. The authority to interact with national governments is based in cooperation agreements, treaties, or individual conventions to which the organization is a signatory. Interpol may also be named in multilateral and bilateral conventions between nations or other entities. Europol has a similar mission and similar capabilities.
How a Red Notice Works
An Interpol Red Notice, despite the prevalence of its misnomer, is not an international arrest warrant. In fact, there is no such thing as an international arrest warrant. Rather, Interpol provides the organizational structure for law enforcement groups among its member states worldwide to communicate and collaborate on criminal matters.
Interpol’s Notice system is one part of this structure. A valid state arrest warrant may serve as the legal basis for requesting provisional arrest via an Interpol Red Notice or may be circulated internationally as a “wanted” notice through the network of Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs) located in member countries. Upon approval, Interpol may issue a Red Notice to all Interpol member countries through their local NCBs.
Once noticed, a local government, through its court system, must make a decision about whether to respond to the Notice by issuing a local arrest warrant, or other legal order, for the purpose of apprehending and detaining the requested individual. Local police forces are responsible for making the actual arrest of an individual in the sovereign territory. If the local authorities do make an arrest or otherwise detain the individual, the NCB in that country must notify the requesting country’s NCB or the Interpol General Secretariat. Thereafter, the individual remains in detention until there is an order for extradition, an indictment under local law, or release from custody.
Links to News and Topics in Mutual Assistance
The Expansion of Europol Powers, January 2006
In January 2006, the European Union (EU) states agreed to widen Europol's powers in fighting transnational crime and to give the agency an enhanced operational role in criminal investigations in Europe. The purpose of this modification is to permit Europol officials to be able to go to the place of a crime, search, or confiscation and to advise national authorities based on Europol-gathered intelligence.
The agreement does not reportedly include provisions for investigating international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The changes will take effect only after all 25 EU states ratify the protocols of the Europol convention.
The Arrest of Ante Gotovina, December 2005
Interpol cites the arrest of General Ante Gotovina in Tenerife, Spain, in December 2005 as an example of a well-executed Interpol-style international police operation.[1] In this operation, Interpol provided support to Spain through its NCB by granting access to the Interpol stolen travel documents database and other intelligence sources, by facilitating international and inter-organizational communication, and by issuing a Red Notice at the request of the UN/ICTY. After four years in hiding, Gen. Gotovina was arrested in Tenerife on December 7, 2005, appeared before a Spanish magistrate, and was transferred to the ICTY four days later. His trial is scheduled to begin in 2007.
The Arrest of Milan Lukic, August 2005 (Interpol press release)
In 2005, police in Chile and Argentina, with the assistance of Interpol intelligence services, arrested Milan Lukic in Buenos Aires. Lukic had been indicted by the ICTY was subsequently extradited to The Hague for trial.
[1]This operation was tracked in the media extensively. The Interpol press release, Interpol Plays Key Role in Capture of Croatian Suspected War Criminal, Dec. 9, 2005, is available at http://www.interpol.int/Public/News/2005/Gotovina20051209.asp, last visited Jan. 13, 2006.