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General Naser al-Raisi at the Interpol General Assembly
Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP
Despite allegations of torture, the international police organization Interpol has elected a major general from the United Arab Emirates, Ahmed al-Raisi, as its new president.
Al-Raisi was previously inspector general at the interior ministry there.
At a general assembly of the 195 Interpol member states in Istanbul on Thursday, he got the majority required for a four-year term of office, as the organization announced.
From the point of view of critics, Al-Raisi stands for an aggressive security apparatus in which people who are critical of the government are arbitrarily arrested or even tortured.
Lawsuits related to allegations of torture have been brought against him in at least five countries.
In Turkey, lawyers have filed charges on behalf of the Golf Center for Human Rights.
There is clear evidence that he was responsible for "torture policies" against political opponents, the ad said.
The Emirates had already started making large-scale donations to Interpol in 2015 and raised the question of whether the country wanted to buy influence with them.
The organization, based in Lyon, lives on the contributions of the 195 member states.
The Emirates are the second largest contributor after the US.
The more money, the more influence
"Interpol is a fully autonomous transnational organization that is not accountable to any agency other than itself," says James Sheptycki, professor of criminology at York University in Toronto.
The internal policy of the organization is very opaque.
"It is clear, however, that the members who invest the most money and effort also have the most influence."
Interpol regularly elects a new boss every four years - and has often been irritated in connection with authoritarian member states.
Its first Chinese president, Meng Hongwei, was arrested in 2018 and convicted of corruption in 2020.
In October of this year, after several years of suspension, the organization again added Syria to its communications network - to the shock of many Syrian opposition members in exile.
The presidential post is largely seen as a symbolic role.
The General Assembly made up of representatives of the member states makes the most important decisions at Interpol.
The general secretary is in charge of the day-to-day work at the duty station in Lyon, France.
The German Jürgen Stock took over this position in 2014.
In October 2019, he was confirmed for a second five-year term.
mrc / dpa / AFP
