French police are investigating allegations that the president of Interpol committed acts of torture and barbarity against a dissident.
A legal source revealed that an inquiry had been opened into accusations against Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, who was appointed four months ago to the top post in the international policing organisation, which is based in Lyons, France.
It comes after the Gulf Centre of Human Rights (GCHR) filed a criminal lawsuit alleging that al-Raisi had been involved in acts of torture and barbarity against Ahmed Mansoor, a blogger and activist given a ten-year jail sentence in the United Arab Emirates for threatening state security in 2018.
The lawsuit alleges that as inspector general at the UAE’s interior ministry, al-Raisi was responsible for Mansoor’s incarceration in solitary confinement in a 13 sq ft cell. Amnesty International has called Mansoor a political prisoner.
There were also accusations that the UAE had abused Interpol’s system of so-called “red notices” for wanted suspects to persecute political dissidents.
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The investigation is being handled by the Central Office for the Fight Against Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide and War Crimes, overseen by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecution Office, which is responsible for crimes against humanity.
Activists filed two lawsuits against al-Raisi last year but they were dismissed because he was not in France. His appointment as Interpol president also changed the legal context. Although the job is largely honorary and he continues to work at the UAE’s interior ministry, photographs posted on social media by Interpol executives have shown him in France in recent weeks.
Under a 2008 convention, members of Interpol have immunity from prosecution in France. However, William Bourdon, a human rights lawyer acting for the GCHR, said al-Raisi could not claim immunity because his alleged crimes occurred before he joined Interpol. Bourdon also argued that the convention did not apply to “the greatest international crimes” such as torture.
Al-Raisi’s appointment, described as a diplomatic triumph in the Arab media, now threatens embarrassment for the UAE. It is also a further setback for Interpol after the 2018 disappearance of Meng Hongwei, its then president. In 2020 he was sentenced to 13 years in jail for corruption in his native China.
