Since 2020, the U.S. State Department has assessed whether the nations it profiles in its annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” have engaged in Interpol abuse during the previous year. This assessment has been part of a broader (and welcome) section on “Politically Motivated Reprisal Against Individuals Located Outside the Country,” or transnational repression.
The inaugural 2020 reports found that eleven nations (Bahrain, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkey) committed abuse through Interpol.
The 2021 reports found that nine nations (Azerbaijan, Benin, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkey) had committed abuse through Interpol in 2020.
In 2022, the count of abusers rose to 12 (Belarus, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Guinea Bissau, Iran, Montenegro, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela).
In late March, the State Department released the 2023 Country Reports, on abuses committed in 2022. These reports named seven abusers (Belarus, Nicaragua, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Suriname, Turkey, Venezuela). By itself, this list of abusers was not surprising – all the 2022 abusers except Suriname were repeat offenders, and none of the abusers would have surprised anyone who follows the issue of Interpol abuse.
Unfortunately, the 2023 Country Reports were far from complete. Admittedly, the Department faces a very difficult challenge in assessing Interpol abuse in these reports: it has limited time to research and write, seeks to compress the reports into a readable length, and must base its reports on credible information. It must also confront multiple competing geopolitical priorities. Even so, the Country Reports could be improved.
Numerous reputable organizations and individuals have produced credible reports and statistics on Interpol abuse which suggest that this problem is far more widespread than the US Country Reports admit. To take one example, the respected Interpol academic Dr. Ted Bromund led an effort in collaboration with Freedom House, the results of which were reported to the State Department, to source credible, public allegations of Interpol abuse – often backed up by information provided by attorneys, always while respecting client confidentiality – committed in 2022. This effort identified twelve nations (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Suriname, Turkmenistan, UAE, and Ukraine) as abusers. It also pointed out that Freedom House’s landmark 2022 study on transnational repression had identified a further six abusers (Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran, Rwanda, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan).
Of the 18 nations mentioned above , the State Department named only seven. There is, of course, always room for debate about which countries justify inclusion in any particular year. However, the failure to name El Salvador and the UAE , among others, as Interpol abusers is particularly troubling.