NEW DELHI, Nov 3: In the backdrop of heightened terror attacks, particularly in the European countries, the 89th General Assembly (GA) of the 194-member Interpol scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month to discuss pending issues has been indefinitely postponed due to the prevailing Corona pandemic. Terrorism and international co-operation to deal with it was one of the important issues slated for discussion in the GA.
This is the first time in its history that the Interpol GA has been held in abeyance affecting effective policing of the world. India is scheduled to hold the 91st GA in 2022.
The annual meeting of all 194-member countries was to discuss cooperation on terrorism, organised crimes and criminal networks among other aspects of policing.
The Interpol’s executive committee concluded that it is inadvisable and materially impossible to hold the 89th GA anywhere in the world this year.
“Due to legal, technical and logistical reasons, there is currently also no viable option for a virtual GA,” Interpol said in a statement.
Jürgen Stock, secretary-general, Interpol, said, “The UAE authorities worked extremely hard to identify solutions to the problems presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, unfortunately it is not possible for the GA to go ahead as planned.
“Despite the postponement of the GA, the daily work of supporting our 194-member countries to combat all forms of transnational crime and terrorism remains unaffected,” he added.
The Interpol executive committee has the power to approve budget in exceptional circumstances but all other issues including electing a new executive committee and the Commission for the Control of Files (CCC) will have to remain pending till the next GA. The CCC is a key exercise to decide the cases of red notices after analysing the presentations made by fugitives.
Any accused, who has fled his homeland, can petition Interpol on grounds of being targeted for political and religious reasons.
(Manas Dasgupta)