South Korea
ROK has listed foreigners with little due process or evidence of crimes. Victims face Interpol Red Notices for simply being acquainted with a company or individual who is wanted. The Kingdom has redacted substantial segments of documentation when Interpol has sought evidence of wrongdoing. Their Notices have led to lengthy detentions for victims of Interpol abuse.
“The Republic of Korea issued a Notice against our client under the category of fraud”, says Radha Stirling.
Ms Stirling founded Interpolrednotice.com and IPEX (Interpol and Extradition) Reform, as 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, continues, “This case was no different to the numerous Gulf issued Interpol Red Notices we have been fighting against for over a decade”.
Stirling prepared detailed submissions to the Lyon based organisation to determine whether ROK’s Red Notice was abusive.
“Fortunately, we were successful in deleting this Notice and showing that Korea was unjustified in issuing the Red Notice. Korea will not be required to compensate the victim nor pay any sort of fine to Interpol. This is not the first Korean Red Notice we have removed and it will not be the last.
“We are pleased our client is finally exonerated and after his recovery from this exhausting trauma, we will assist him to repair the reputation that was wrongfully damaged in the click of a button.
“Interpol needs to do more to prevent these Notices in the first place, not just remove them after the damage has been done”.
“Interpol Notices are extremely complicated to permanently erase. There is no courtroom and limited participation which is why we have to ensure our submissions are thorough from the onset. Interpol takes submissions from both the applicant and the country who issued the Notice then reviews the arguments in a closed door setting with no involvement or oversight from the applicant. It’s a lengthy process and the applicant in this situation will often be subject to travel restrictions and other hindrances such as legal costs. Sometimes they will be under a travel
ban, house arrest or even in prison during this process.
After a stressful and lengthy wait, when the commission finds in their favour, the Notice will be deleted and they will be free to resume their lives, but there is no apology, no compensation and no accountability for the issuing country or the data processor, Interpol. The lack of accountability leaves individuals at severe risk of state harassment and Interpol abuse which can have an enormously damaging impact on their lives, finances and reputations. It leaves them unacceptably at risk of human rights violations.”
