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Interpol

GS Paper 2:

Syllabus: Important International Institutions, agencies, and fora – their Structure, Mandate.

 Context:

  • Preparations are afoot for the 90th Interpol General Assembly, to be held in Delhi.

 

What is Interpol?

  • The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.
  • Headquartered in Lyon, France, it is the world’s largest international police organization, with seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 195 member states.
  • Interpol was conceived during the first International Criminal Police Congress in 1914, which brought officials from 24 countries to discuss cooperation in law enforcement.
  • Interpol provides investigative support, expertise, and training to law enforcement worldwide, focusing on three major areas of transnational crime: terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime.
    • Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, intellectual property infringement, and white-collar crime.
    • The agency also facilitates cooperation among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks.
  • However, Interpol is itself not a law enforcement agency.

 

Current Affairs 

What is the Interpol General Assembly?

  • It is Interpol’s supreme governing body, and comprises representatives from all its member countries.
  • It meets annually for a session lasting approximately four days, to vote on activities and policy.
  • Each country is represented by one or more delegates at the Assembly, who are typically chiefs of law enforcement agencies.
  • The Assembly also elects the members of the Interpol Executive Committee, the governing body which “provides guidance and direction in between sessions of the Assembly”.

 

Interpol and India

  • The CBI is the designated nodal body for the Interpol in India. It works in close coordination with the Interpol and other member countries for the sharing of inputs related to trans-national crimes and persons wanted by enforcement agencies across the world.
  • India has been a member since 1956.
  • Like any member nation, India maintains a National Central Bureau, which serves as the national platform for cooperation between domestic law enforcement units and the international police community.
  • The NCB is the designated contact point for the Interpol.
  • India has collaborated with the Interpol, in tackling a myriad of organised crimes such as poaching, wildlife trafficking, spurious drugs, and fake medicine rackets, among others.

 

 

Instalinks

Prelims Link

  1. What is Interpol.
  2. Overview of Interpol’s crime programmes.

Mains Link

Highlighting the intent behind setting up of Interpol, discuss the challenges the organisation faces, along with the possible solution to make it more effective.

 

Q 1. Consider the following statement about Interpol

  1. Interpol is not a law enforcement agency
  2. India has been a member of Interpol since its inception.

Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. None of the above

Source: The Hindu