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Interpol Red Notice Removal

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Being listed as an international fugitive with an Interpol Red Notice warrant is one of the most frightening and unexpected occurrences to happen in one's life.  Often the first time someone becomes aware of a notice is when they are questioned or arrested at an airport.  Some unfortunate people have been arrested in a public place like their London office or a hotel restaurant in Rome.  Once listed on Interpol, the effects on business and life in general, can be severe.  If not detained in foreign prisons and subjected to lengthy extradition proceedings, there are still drastic consequences; the loss of business, employment and reputation and the personal toll on family and mental wellbeing.

 

Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai’s founder, has been helping people clear the name from Interpol’s unregulated database for over a decade.  Stirling has seen all kinds of notices, green, blue, red and has helped victims of Interpol Red Notices get their freedom back, and their reputations.  Stirling’s clients have included prominent businessmen, politicians, journalists, and a number of bank debtors who have been misreported under the category of “fraud”.  A number of Stirling’s Interpol victims have been reported as a means to extort, harass or blackmail individuals.

 

Ms Stirling is an Expert Witness and has provided expert testimony in civil litigations and extradition matters in Europe, the UK and US on the prevalence of what she calls “Interpol Abuse”.  Stirling has advised on Interpol abuse at Parliament and Congressional level and is part of the Washington DC based group focussed on Interpol reform.  Stirling is the most experienced Interpol Red Notice removal expert focussed primarily on abusive countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela and Turkey.  The most common crimes Stirling deals with are fraud and embezzlement resulting from business partnership disputes, civil matters and bank debts, but gambling and regulatory breaches, as well as journalist allegations including terrorism are becoming more common.

 

Radha Stirling, founded IPEX Reform, an advisory for Interpol and Extradition process reform, aiming to increase pressure on Interpol to make member countries accountable for their abuse of the database and to make Interpol liable for abuse.  Stirling speaks on this issue at legislative level, at think tanks, conferences and to the media, exposing corruption and inadequacies present in the international crime reporting organisation.

 

If you suspect you have an Interpol notice against you, or are at risk of being reported to Interpol, you are in no safer hands than Interpol expert Radha Stirling who will help get your life back, your confidence and your reputation.

Interpol is an essential international law enforcement institution, as such its protocols and procedures must be beyond reproach.  When Interpol fails to uphold standards of fairness, transparency, and accountability; and when it is allowed to become a mechanism of injustice, persecution, and extortion, global law enforcement is in a worse position than if Interpol did not exist at all.

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Abuse of the Interpol system has been increasing year on year since the beginning of the 21st Century.  Non-democratic, Authoritarian, and transitional governments have equal access to utilise Interpol’s mechanisms as stable, democratic states; and Interpol provides no procedures for filtering requests for inclusion of individuals in its database which do not meet Interpol’s own criteria.

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Spurious Red and Blue Notices are issued upon request with little or no discrimination as to the integrity of the requesting state, nor that state’s human rights record, nor even to the frequency of a state’s habitual misuse of the Interpol system.

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Thus, countries such as Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, China, and others routinely report innocent individuals to Interpol purely for political reasons, or in an attempt to intimidate debtors and extort payments from often victimised businesspeople over civil disputes.  These individuals may find themselves restricted in their freedom of movement; they may be detained, and they may even face extradition to countries where they will face persecution, unfair trials, and even torture and grave human rights abuses.

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Detained in Dubai's founder and CEO, Radha Stirling seeks to advise, lobby, and achieve urgently needed reforms in Interpol’s internal procedures for data collection and the issuance of diffusion Notices, as well as to improve Interpol’s overall transparency and accountability so that the organisation’s crucial function in global law enforcement will no longer be compromised by abuse and manipulation; and so that no more innocent individuals will suffer the devastating consequences of being wrongfully included in Interpol’s database.

A small selection of our Interpol Red Notice clients

INTERPOL notices are International requests of co-operation or alerts, allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.

 

In the case of Red Notices, the persons concerned are wanted by the national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant, or court decision. INTERPOL's role is to assist in identifying and locating these persons with a view to arrest and extradition, or similar lawful action. The imposition of a Red Notice will have a significant impact on those unfortunate enough to be targeted - especially if featured on INTERPOL's public webpage. 

 

International travel becomes unsafe, but collateral damage can also be severe; closure of bank accounts; professional and personal reputations become damaged and, in some cases a criminal investigation will ensue.  If anyone finds themselves in this tense predicament, our role is to help you re-claim your freedom and allow you to resume a normal life. We engage with INTERPOL directly, putting forward substantiated reasons why a notice should be withdrawn.  In some cases this can be simply because the UAE has failed to withdraw the notice to update its local database, or there may be more complex issues involved and we will work towards a clear and solid outcome.

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If you have been threatened with INTERPOL action, suspect that you have been reported or are aware of an INTERPOL Red Notice, please contact us for urgent advice and consultation respecting its prevention or removal.

Interpol Abuse Video Library

Live with Radha Stirling on Alan Stevenson Interpol Abuse - Detained in Czech Republic
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Live with Radha Stirling on Alan Stevenson Interpol Abuse - Detained in Czech Republic

Czech court rules detention of dual British / Australian citizen Alan Stevenson was a violation of human rights; calling into question the legitimacy of Interpol’s Red Notice system due to widespread abuse by authoritarian regimes around the world. Stevenson was held due to claims of unpaid debt in Qatar, despite owing no money. Stirling vows to pursue all legal avenues for justice. Alan’s case is emblematic of what has been happening with ever greater frequency from the Gulf States. Interpol has been hijacked by authoritarian regimes around the world who abuse the Red Notice system to persecute political opponents, dissidents, independent journalists, and private individuals over financial disputes. Countries like Qatar and the UAE lead the world in wrongful Red Notice requests for the purpose of debt collection – something that violates Interpol’s own protocols. In Alan’s case, the claim of unpaid debt was entirely unevidenced, and Qatar did not substantiate the charge when Czech authorities requested proof. Law enforcement officials around the world comply with Red Notices because of their relationship with Interpol, not because of their relationships with the countries requesting the Notices; so, like in Alan’s case, people get detained very often without evidence, simply on the basis of a country’s respect for Interpol. When a Red Notice is subsequently deemed invalid, people whose lives have been turned upside down by detention and extradition procedures are just expected to shrug and move on. By challenging the legality of his detention, Alan is helping to change the state of play with the way countries deal with these Notices. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic has determined that his incarceration was a violation of his human rights as guaranteed by the UDHR, and they are correct. Interpol has allowed itself to be manipulated, exploited, and used as, essentially, an instrument of financial extortion, not to mention political repression; and this has to stop. Interpol is not vetting Red Notice requests from known abusers of the system, and innocent people are paying the price. Interpol accepted the bogus Red Notice request against Alan from Qatar, and so Czech officials are now guilty of human rights violations because they trusted Interpol. We have been leading the call for years for reform of Interpol’s protocols and for greater transparency. With Alan’s case, we intend to pursue every viable legal option to achieve not only justice and restitution for Alan Stevenson, but the enactment of fundamental changes in how Interpol deals with habitual abusers of the system and those authoritarian member governments with documented gross violations of human rights. Extradition to countries like the UAE, Qatar, Iran, China, Russia, and so on, should be unthinkable; their human rights records are abysmal and their legal systems are starkly below international standards of due process. Yet, they remain eligible for requesting Red Notices, even while in many cases, extradition will mean unjust detention, torture, and potentially death. The stakes are so high, but Interpol has no measures in place to vet requests. Alan’s case can be a watershed moment in this regard. If Interpol reforms, the residual impact could potentially incentivise countries to improve human rights conditions, due process standards, and governmental reforms around the world.
Extradition expert Radha Stirling Live on Scottish man detained in Greece over Qatar Interpol notice
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Extradition expert Radha Stirling Live on Scottish man detained in Greece over Qatar Interpol notice

Radha Stirling, extradition and interpol expert, issued a statement regarding Conor Howard; "A young Scottish man has been detained in Greece and is facing possible extradition to Qatar over an alleged offence which Qatar already chose not to prosecute. Conor Howard was on his way home from Australia last year when his flight transited in Doha; when his luggage was checked by authorities they discovered a cannabis grinder. Conor was detained for around 6 hours in Qatar as a result, but ultimately released and allowed to fly home. Bizarrely, however, Qatar then issued a warrant for his arrest. Upon flying to Greece to visit family this past weekend, Greek authorities were alerted of the arrest warrant, and threw Conor in jail. He has a bail hearing later today, but it appears that Conor is to face extradition proceedings that might see him deported to Qatar to face charges – charges for which Qatar already released him last year. Relations between Qatar and Greece have been strengthening in recent years, with significant steps taken to increase private-sector collaboration, as the ailing Greek economy seeks Gulf investment. This is concerning, as clearly Conor would be subjected to a legal system that falls far below international standards of due process, and human rights violations are well documented in Qatar’s detention centres. Mutual economic interests must not be allowed to supersede human rights protections and respect for the rule of law. Obviously, Conor has not committed a crime, and that was even determined to be the case at the time of his initial detention. It is absurd that Qatar would issue an arrest warrant for an individual they themselves released from custody. This alone illustrates the chaotic and arbitrary nature of the legal system, not just in Qatar but throughout the Gulf. It is a mistake for Greece to even entertain extradition requests from a country like Qatar, which is one of the leading international abusers of Interpol and systems of extradition, as well as a country with endemic human rights abuse. Pursuing extradition in a case like Conor’s is a waste of the court’s time and taxpayer’s money, and obviously, a completely unnecessary torment for this young man who has done nothing wrong whatsoever."

Resource Centre & Press Releases

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IPEX (Interpol & Extradition) Reform

Established by Radha Stirling, founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, and a leading voice against Interpol abuse, Interpol and Extradition Reform (IPEX) is a comprehensive initiative to address the widespread and multilayered problems with the current framework of the extradition process, including the many flaws in Interpol itself as an organisation.  Radha Stirling has successfully lobbied Australian Parliament to include human rights provisions in their extradition treaty with the UAE, appeared for the defence as an expert witness in several high profile extradition cases and has worked tirelessly to remove wrongfully listed clients from Interpol’s database. She has led the call for greater Interpol transparency and reforms to end abuse by an emerging “authoritarian nexus” which misuses the Interpol Red Notice system to circumvent due process.  

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IPEX demands that Interpol implement practical measures to ensure the protection of refugees from politically motivated malicious extradition requests, including the establishment of data sharing agreements with the UNHCR and national governments so that individuals who have been granted asylum will not be put at risk of extradition to the countries from which they have fled.  This proposal is currently supported by prominent barristers in the United Kingdom, human rights organisations, and activists.

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Furthermore, IPEX suggests core reforms to state-to-state extradition requests and Interpol protocols to ensure these processes will not be used for political persecution, extortion of debtors, and in an attempt to circumvent international standards of due process by instituting a global criteria for the consideration of extradition requests which include human rights concerns and the integrity of national legal systems.

Balancing the books: Philip Wood, QC

Detained in Dubai tackles alleged abuse - by Philip Wood, QC - The Times
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Philip Wood, QC, the former Allen & Overy partner and Yorke distinguished visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge, has just published nine books simultaneously in his revised Law and Practice of International Finance series. These are enormous tomes of authoritative analysis. Wood is the first author to produce summaries of the relevant law of every jurisdiction in the world.

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Undeterred in Dubai


The relentless energy of the campaigners at Detained in Dubai continues to amaze as they take on one case of alleged abuse and miscarriage of justice after another. The organisation’s attention is now also engaged in countering the misuse of the Interpol notice system, including allegedly by banks such as HSBC Bank Middle East. Radha Stirling, the group’s chief executive, seems fairly blasé about the risks involved challenging powerful state bodies. “When you deal with clients whose lives are in crisis, often devastating situations; wrongly jailed, lost jobs, income, reputation, and with their families in a state of traumatic upheaval, you tend to focus on the risks and dangers they are dealing with rather than any risks involved with helping them,” she says.

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Read full article here

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Listen to the Gulf in Justice Podcast on Interpol Abuse on Spotify

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