Interpol notice

In 2025, Interpol began piloting a Silver Notice for assets used in criminal activities. Similar to the notice is another request for cooperation or alert mechanism known as a "diffusion". This is less formal than a notice, but also is used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation. A diffusion is circulated directly by a member state or international entity to the countries of their choice, or to the entire Interpol membership and is simultaneously recorded in Interpol's databases. ==History==

The International notice system was created in 1946 as Interpol re-established itself after World War II in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud. It initially consisted of six colour-coded notices: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, and Purple. In 2004, the seventh colour was added, Orange. ==Controversy==

Red Notice controversies In his book ''Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice'', Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, describes how the Russian government repeatedly requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice for his arrest. Interpol refused to do so on the basis that it deemed the request was "predominantly political in nature and therefore contrary to INTERPOL's rules and regulations". With Russia unable to secure his extradition, Browder was subsequently tried and convicted by a Moscow court for tax evasion in absentia. In January 2017, United Kingdom-based NGO Fair Trials called on Interpol to introduce more rigorous checks. Fair Trials chief executive Jago Russell stated, "Interpol has been allowing itself to be used by oppressive regimes across the world to export the persecution of human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents". There have been concerns about conflict of interest as well as in March 2017, the UAE donated $54 million to Interpol, which roughly equalled the contributions by all other member states. Interpol's secretary-general, Jurgen Stock, stated that Interpol had introduced a task force to review requests "even more intensively". In June 2020, Iran issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 other US political and military officials for their role in the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice. The request was rejected on the basis that this was essentially a political matter. Iran renewed the request in January 2021 after Trump left office, but it was again rejected. It was shown in 2013 that Interpol Red Notices were sometimes inaccurate and could be politically motivated. NGOs such as Fair Trials International have pointed to its limited internal controls to tackle political abuses. Many of its members have poor human rights records and corrupt, undemocratic governments and have been accused of abusing the Red Notice networks for political purposes. Some Red Notices are controversial and have been used to persecute opponents of regimes, for example the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, whose Red Notice for embezzlement, misappropriation or conversion of property was removed after it was claimed to be a political request. Interpol issued a new refugee policy in 2015, stipulating that a Red Notice should not be issued against a refugee when it has been requested by the country from which the refugee initially fled. In November 2018, Bahrain issued a Red Notice for footballer and dissident Hakeem al-Araibi, who had fled Bahrain in 2014 and been granted refugee status in Australia some years later. He was arrested on arrival in Thailand with his wife for a honeymoon in November 2018 by Thai police on the basis of the Red Notice, despite the Red Notice being withdrawn a few days later on the basis of illegality. On 11 February, he was released after Thai prosecutors dropped the case, arriving in Australia the following day. He was granted Australian citizenship one month later, on 12 March 2019. There has been growing concern about refugees being targeted by Red Notices illegally. Recent examples before al-Araibi's case include the detention of Russian activist Petr Silaev in Spain and Algerian human rights lawyer Rachid Mesli in Italy. In al-Araibi's case, despite the Red Notice being withdrawn only a few days after being issued, Bahrain nonetheless issued an extradition order, and Thailand complied, leading to a trial in which al-Araibi had to defend his opposition to the extradition. ==Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files==

The Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files (CCF) is an independent monitoring body. It operates in line with a number of official rules and documents and has three main functions: • Monitoring the application of data protection rules to personal data processed by Interpol • Advising with regard to any operations or projects concerning the processing of personal information • Processing requests for access to Interpol's files In 2008, the Interpol General Assembly voted to amend Interpol's constitution to integrate the CCF into its internal legal structure, thereby guaranteeing its independence. The CCF's most notable function, however, is to consider legal petitions submitted by individuals requesting the revocation of red notices. Such petitions, as a rule, only succeed when a red notice is deemed to infringe on Interpol's Constitution either because it offends the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or because it was issued for political, religious, military, or racial reasons. ==References==